Morbidity and mortality among 5-17 year old children admitted in five hospitals in Kenya in the year 2013
Master Thesis
2015
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University of Cape Town
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Background: Global morbidity and mortality trends have changed over time and are expected to continue changing. Preventable diseases, such as those caused by infectious agents, still account for a large proportion of morbidity cases in Africa. With increased survival of children under five years old, there is likely to be a change in morbidity and mortality pattern s for children aged 6 - 18 years. However, there are few studies in Africa that explore the burden of disease (morbidity and mortality) and injuries in children above the age of five. This study aims to determine the morbidity and mortality patterns among children aged 5 - 17 years in six Kenyan hospitals in 2013. Methods: This study is designed as a retrospective review of patients' medical records. Data was collected from all patient records at Kisii Level 5 Hospital (KL5H), Naivasha County Referral Hospital, Karatina Hospital, Garissa Provincial General Hospital, Mbagathi District Hospital , and Gertrude ' s Children ' s Hospital in Kenya , of patients who presented from the 1st day of January to 31st December 2013. Data was analysed to provide descriptive statistics and Pearson's chi - square test and odds ratios were calculated to explore differences in morbidity and mortality rates between age categories, gender and hospitals. Results: 4 520 patient records were retrieved for patients who met the inclusion criteria. Among these admissions, 70% suffered from communicable diseases, maternal causes or nutritional diseases (32.3% were common infectious diseases , such as malaria and diarrhoea ; 14.9% were respiratory infections ; 24% were pregnancy related ), 33.1% suffered from non - communicable diseases , while 13% of the admissions had injuries (mainly from falls/trips and road traffic accidents), with motorcycles causing the majority (58%) of road traffic accidents . Injuries increased with age for males. The in-hospital mortality rate was 3.5%. Among deaths, 60% suffered from communicable diseases, maternal and nutritional causes; 41.3% suffered from non - communicable diseases and 11.9% had injuries. There were variations in admissions and deaths between the ages, gender s and hospitals. There were more female (57%) patients admitted but more male (57%) deaths. Conclusion: Infectious and maternal cause s are the biggest contributor to morbidity while infectious causes have the highest proportion of causes of death. There is a need to understand why the high proportion of females under 18 years of age is admitted for maternal al causes and to develop reproductive health services to better address the health care needs of adolescents on Kenya.
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Osano, B. 2015. Morbidity and mortality among 5-17 year old children admitted in five hospitals in Kenya in the year 2013. University of Cape Town.