Common ailments at presentation and outcome of management of under five children at Mother of Mercy Mission Hospital Umuna Orlu Imo State South east Nigeria (a 5-year retrospective study (1st January 2015 to 31st December 2019)

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate diagnosis at presentation and outcome of management of under five children at Mother of Mercy Hospital Umuna Orlu Imo State South East Nigeria. Methodology: A retrospective study of diagnosis at presentation and outcome of management among under five over five years’ duration (1stJanuary 2015 to 31stDecember 2019). A proforma was used to collect data from the folders of the respondents and data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 IBM U.S.A. Results were presented in frequency tables, bar charts and pie charts. Results: A total of 359 patients were studied. They were 215 (60%) males and 144(40%) females with the greatest respondents being children within the age range of 1-3 years (36%) and the least respondents were children within the age range of <1month. The commonest diagnosis at presentation was malaria 118(33%), diarrhea disease 72(20%) upper respiratory tract infection 40(11%) other infections 129(36%). A total number of 154(43%) of the respondents were admitted into the ward and the major cause of admission was malaria. All patients were admitted through the clinic. There were 151(73%) discharges on getting well, 13(6%) patients were discharged against medical advice 21(10%) were referred to other centers and about 22(11%) deaths were recorded and it mostly occurred in children aged 1-3 years. The outcome of management of patients who presented as outpatient were not documented as they either got well or disappeared to follow up.Conclusion: Malaria, diarrhea disease, upper respiratory tract infection and other infections were the major presenting problems among the under-five age group evaluated by the study