Morbidity and Mortality Pattern among 3869 Consecutive Admissions at Amiru Kanu Teaching Hospital, Kano

Abstract

Background: Childrend morbidity and mortality pose serious challenges in developing countries. One of the Millenium Development Guola (MDG 4) is to reduce under-five mortality by two-thirds by the year 2015. Yet, because of the low level of primary health care delivery and late referrals to secondary and tertiary health facilities, morbidity and mortality continue to rise unchallenged. Objective: To dretermine the morbidity and mortality pattern among childrend admitted to Amiru Knao Teaching Hospital (AKTH) over a two-year period. Method: A prospective study childhood morbidity and mortality was conducted over a two year period fof September 2005 TO August 2007. For each child, sex, age and year of admission, diagnosis at presentation, final diagnosis, duration of hospital stay and outcome were recorded in the admission and discharge register by the managing teams. Results: Three thousand, eight hundred and sixty-nine children were admitted over the study period, of whom 2706 were males and 1563 were females (M: F ratio 15:1). Neonatal admisssion constituted 43.9 percentl, while most neonatal admission comprised 56.1 percent. The main indications for neontal admissions were sepricomix (24.1 perill): prematurily (22.2 percent), birrh asphyxia (19.7 percent). congenital formations (12 percent) and neonatal jaundice (0.7 02n:). ' The main indications for post neonatal admissions were severe malaria (17.5 percent), cute respiratory infectious (12.7 percent), sickle cell aneamia and it examplication (11.4 percent) septicamea (10.5 percent), diarrhoeal diseases (9.3 percent). Protein energy malnutrition (6.5 percent),malignancies (6.0 percent), moningitis (4.percent) and HIV/AIDS (4.2 percent). There were 557 death representing a 14.4 percent moralality. Normal mortallity was 54.2 percent of all deaths, of which 58 (19.2 percent) were inborn 244 (80.8 percent) were outborn. Conclusion: The major causes of childhood morbidity and mortality in this study are mostly preventable. The study highlighted the contribution of neonatal death to childhood mortality and equally showed an increasing level of non communicable disease like sickle cell anaemia as well as an increase in the incidence of childhood malignanacies and HIV/AIDS, Emergence of malignancies as an important part of mortality in our world is likely to be a challenge to future health planning.