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Mortality pattern at a children's emergency ward, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria
1Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Insights
Paediatric deaths at the Children's Emergency Room (CHER) declined, but measles and tetanus remained leading causes. One in five admitted children died, with highest mortality in the 1-2 year age group.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Paediatric mortality rates in emergency settings are critical indicators of community health.
- Understanding trends in childhood deaths is essential for targeted public health interventions.
- The Children's Emergency Room (CHER) at University College Hospital, Ibadan, serves as a key facility for assessing paediatric health outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the patterns and causes of paediatric deaths at the CHER, University College Hospital, Ibadan.
- To identify trends in paediatric mortality over an eight-year period.
- To evaluate the significance of specific diseases and demographic factors in child mortality.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective study design.
- Analysis of admission and mortality data from the Children's Emergency Room (CHER) between 1978 and 1986.
- Calculation of proportionate death rates and fatality rates for common childhood illnesses.
Main Results:
- A decline in paediatric deaths per 1000 admissions was observed from 1978 (208) to 1986 (179).
- Measles exhibited the highest proportionate death rate (13.1%), sharing the highest fatality rate (32.6%) with tetanus.
- Gastroenteritis and bronchopneumonia showed a decline in importance as causes of death, while low birth weight had the lowest fatality rate among leading causes.
Conclusions:
- Despite a decline, paediatric mortality remains a significant concern, with measles and tetanus as critical causes.
- The 1-2 year age group represents the highest proportion of deaths, suggesting its utility as a community health index.
- Further investigation into the preponderance of males in emergency admissions is warranted.
Abstract:
A retrospective study of the pattern of paediatric deaths at the children's emergency room (CHER) of the University College Hospital, Ibadan revealed a steady decline from 208 per 1000 admissions in 1978 to 179 per 1000 admissions in 1986. The study, however, showed that one in every five children admitted to the CHER died over the study period 1978, and 1981-1986. Measles has the highest proportionate death rate of 13.1% and it shares the highest fatality rate of 32.6% with tetanus. Gastroenteritis and bronchopneumonia, which were major causes of deaths in the CHER in the early 1970s decline considerably in importance. Also noteworthy is low birth weight which was associated with the least fatality rate among the 10 leading causes of emergency admissions. The age distribution of the children who died shows that the highest proportion was in the age group 1-2 yr. The use of the proportion of deaths of children in the 1-2 yr age group as a more reliable index for assessing the health status of a community is discussed. Also discussed is the preponderance of males over females in emergency admissions.