PATTERN OF MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY AT THE CHILDREN EMERGENCY UNIT OF ENUGU STATE TEACHING HOSPITAL, PARK LANE, ENUGU

摘要

Pediatric emergency services are expected to form a key component of attaining universalcoverage of quality healthcare as a target of the Sustainable Development Goals. In order toachieve this, accurate information about the causes of morbidity and mortality is essential. Thisretrospective study was conducted at the Children Emergency Room (CHER) of Enugu StateUniversity Teaching Hospital (ESUTH), Enugu. The admission records of all the children thatwere admitted into CHER of ESUTH over a three year period from July 2011 to June 2014 werereviewed. Frequency distributions of all relevant variables were reported as tables, charts andprose. Test of significance for discrete variables was done using the Chi-square test. A p-value<0.05 was regarded as significant. A total of 2869 children were seen during the three year periodof study. Acute gastroenteritis, malaria, pneumonia and sepsis were the most frequent reasons foradmission into the children emergency room. The major causes of death included sepsis, acutegastroenteritis, pneumonia and malaria. Mortality was highest among children under the age of5years, with infants constituting over 50% of the mortalities. Anticipating peak periods duringseasonal variations can improve patient outcomes. Most mortalities occur within 24 hours ofarrival at hospital, thus more efforts should be made to improve health seeking behaviour andreduce late presentation.