تلخیص
Objective: The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of malnutrition
on pneumonia.
Background: Pneumonia is the single entity that remains the leading
cause of death in children under five worldwide. It accounts for about
1.6 million deaths a year in pediatric age group. Out of it 18% of all
deaths among children are under five. Greater than 99% of all deaths
due to pneumonia occur in low and middle-income countries. Nearly
one-third of children in the developing world are malnourished. The
undernourished children are more vulnerable to the severe and deadly
effects of infectious diseases as compared to children who are
adequately nourished. Another study from the neighboring country India
also showed significant association of malnutrition prevalence with
increased respiratory tract infections.
Materials and Methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional study.
Setting was Pediatrics Unit 1 at Civil Hospital, Karachi. Sample size was
540. Children less than 2 months and more than 60 months of age plus
any patient if suffering from other illnesses other than pneumonia i.e comorbidity were excluded. The patients who fulfill the inclusion criteria
were selected. A written consent was taken from the
mother/father/attendant of the patient. The data was collected
according to the formed proforma after taking pretest sociodemographic data. The variables included examination finding, general
condition of the patient, weight, height, mid upper arm circumference,
chest x-ray, positive findings of pneumonia and mortality. The study does
not involve any experimental/interventional work nor any out of routine
procedures.
Results: Rate of response was 100%. Majority (61.3%) of pneumonic
patients were males and 38.7% were females, 45.7% were aged between
2-11 Months while 54.3%12-60 Months. The mortality was 8.52%.The
children found to have malnutrition had a significantly higher mortality at
a p-value of 0.00 than the ones who were well nourished. Moderate
malnutrition was present in 30% while 8.33% had severe malnutrition, in
total 38.33 had malnutrition. Children with severe malnutrition had more
episodes of ARI at a p value of 0.33. Children with severe malnutrition
had more previous episodes of pneumonia at a p value of 0.33.
Association of severity of malnutrition with severity of pneumonia was
significant with a p value of 0.02.
Conclusion: Eliminating the malnutrition will result in significant fall in the
mortality and morbidity due to pneumonia in pediatric age group and it
will also lessen down the number of episodes of pneumonia.
Farah Ahmed, Zahid Ali Memon, Aisha Mehnaz, Bilal Ashraf Khokhar, Saba Alvi, Naseem Ahmed. (2016) A Study on the Effects of Malnutrition on Pediatric Pneumonia Patients, Pakistan Pediatric Journal, Volume 40, Issue 1.
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