Acute Medical Conditions in under Five Year Old Children at a Public Hospital in Kenya.

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dc.contributor.authorMakworo, D.
dc.contributor.authorLaving, A. M.
dc.date.accessioned2014-01-14T13:57:24Z
dc.date.available2014-01-14T13:57:24Z
dc.date.issued2010-08
dc.description.abstractOBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of childhood preventable and treatable medical conditions and the parent's/guardian's knowledge about the conditions and their management. DESIGN: A descriptive cross-sectional study. SETTING: Paediatric medical wards at Kenyatta National hospital SUBJECTS: All children aged 0-60 months with preventable conditions (that included pneumonia, malaria, diarrhoea/dehydration, meningitis and malnutrition) in paediatric wards who had stayed in the ward for 24 to 48 hours. RESULTS: Two hundred and fifty six parents/guardians staying with their children were recruited into the study. The vast majority (85.5%) of the children were aged less than two years. The prevalence of the acute treatable and preventable medical conditions was 88.6% over a one month period. The leading cause of admission for most children was pneumonia (31.6%) followed by malnutrition (16.8%) and gastro-enteritis (16%). Other conditions included neonatal sepsis (9.1%), measles (6%) and malaria (4.8%). The parents'/guardians' mean and median age was 26 years and the majority (89.8%) were mothers. A great proportion (46.5%) of the parents/guardians had attained at least some primary education. More than 70% of the parents/guardians were found to lack knowledge about their children's health problems and the drugs they were using. This was regardless of the parent's/guardians level of education and the frequency of admission of the child. CONCLUSION: Acute preventable and treatable medical conditions at KNH are highly prevalent, and the leading conditions include pneumonia, malnutrition and gastroenteritis. Most parents/guardians did not understand their children's health problems regardless of their level of education.en_US
dc.identifier.citationEast African Medical Journal Vol. 87 No. 8 August 201en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/8545
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherEast African Medical Journalen_US
dc.titleAcute Medical Conditions in under Five Year Old Children at a Public Hospital in Kenya.en_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
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