Clinical Spectrum of admitted Severely Acute Malnourished Children at The Indus Hospital Karachi: An Evaluation of One year’s experience.
Abstract
Malnutrition is a major health problem and causes death of nearly one million infants and children across the globe, annually. A large population of children in Pakistan aslo, suffers from malnutrition.
Objective: The study aims to review the morbidity and mortality patterns of Pediatric in-patients with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) at The Indus Hospital (TIH), Karachi in period of one year.
Methods: A retrospective audit review of Pediatric inpatients with diagnosis of Severe Acute Malnutrition during June 2014 to June 2015 was performed. The electronic medical records of all malnourished children under five years of age were included in the review.
Results: The total of 341 children with average age of 2.2 years were admitted at The Indus Hospital, Karachi. In all, 54.5 percent (n=186) children were female while rest of them were male. The mean weight of children subjected to SAM was 5.42kgs. The majority of the children had Marasmus malnutrition (96.3%) while the Khawashkor was observed in only 3.7%. The common morbidities found were different infections (n=313), electrolyte imbalances (n=112), and Congenital/Chromosomal/Hormonal disorders (n=45). Anemia was found in most (95.38% ) of children with SAM.
Conclusion: The severe acute malnutrition is associated with different morbidities and metabolic as well as congenital abnormalities. Due to the weak immune system and low level of nutrients in the body, the children with SAM are synergistically associated with the high mortality rate. More data from different regions of Pakistan is needed to develop policies and strategies to effectively manage malnutrition in Pakistan.
References
Asim M, Nawaz Y. Child Malnutrition in Pakistan: Evidence from Literature. Children. 2018;5(5):60.
[Internet]. Unicef.org. 2019 [cited 14 January 2019]. Available from: https://www.unicef.org/pakistan/Stop_Stunting.pdf
Maternal and child under nutrition: global and regional exposures and health consequences. 2008. Volume 371, Issue 9608, Pages 243–260
Collins S. Treating severe acute malnutrition seriously. Archives of Disease in Childhood. 2007;92(5):453-461.
[Internet]. Who.int. 2019 [cited 14 January 2019]. Available from: https://www.who.int/selection_medicines/committees/expert/21/applications/s6_paed_antibiotics_appendix7_sam.pdf
Anjum M, Moorani K, Sameen I, Mustufa M, Kulsoom S. Functional and structural abnormalities of the kidney and urinary tract in severely malnourished children - A hospital based study. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences. 2016;32(5).
Ahmed M, Sulaiman A, Bushara S, Elmadhoun W, Noor S, Abdelkarim M et al. Prevalence and determinants of undernutrition among children under 5-year-old in rural areas: A cross-sectional survey in North Sudan. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care. 2018;7(1):104.
Abdulahi A, Shab-Bidar S, Rezaei S, Djafarian K. Nutritional status of under five children in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Ethiopian Journal of Health Sciences. 2017;27(2):175.
Muhammad E, I A, Z H. Clinical pattern of infections in malnourished children. Medical Channel. 2010;16(3):352-56.
