BACKGROUND: Several interventional programmes which sought broadly to promote the health of the child and also prevent diseases were introduced globally in the latter period of the last century. This study set to describe the pattern of morbidity among pre-school children attending the children's outpatient clinic of the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri. METHOD: The case records of pre-school children who presented at the clinic between January and April 2004 were collected and entered into a spread sheet. The age, sex and diagnosis made were extracted from the records. In cases where more than two diagnoses were made, the most likely two following a review of presenting complaints and findings on examination were chosen. RESULT: Eight hundred and twenty nine patients consisting of 468 (56.2%) males and 361 (43.5%) females met the inclusion criteria. Patients aged 0-11 months constituted 47.8% while those between 48 and 59 months accounted for 1%. The five commonest causes of morbidity were malaria (60.7%), acute respiratory infection (35.8%), diarrhoeal disease (7.4%), skin infection (6.8%) and urinary tract infection (3.6%). The prevalence of malaria and acute respiratory disease were highest in patients aged between 12-23 months while diarrhoea was highest in the group 0-11 months. The prevalence of vaccine preventable diseases such as measles and tuberculosis were low accounting for 1.1% and 1% of morbidity respectively. CONCLUSION: This study shows that morbidity from vaccine preventable diseases is low, which is likely a reflection of the increased emphasis on immunization programmes. The major causes of morbidity in pre-school children in Owerri are still common diseases that have been around for a while and are basically preventable.
BACKGROUND: Several interventional programmes which sought broadly to promote the health of the child and also prevent diseases were introduced globally in the latter period of the last century. This study set to describe the pattern of morbidity among pre-school children attending the children's outpatient clinic of the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri. METHOD: The case records of pre-school children who presented at the clinic between January and April 2004 were collected and entered into a spread sheet. The age, sex and diagnosis made were extracted from the records. In cases where more than two diagnoses were made, the most likely two following a review of presenting complaints and findings on examination were chosen. RESULT: Eight hundred and twenty nine patients consisting of 468 (56.2%) males and 361 (43.5%) females met the inclusion criteria. Patients aged 0-11 months constituted 47.8% while those between 48 and 59 months accounted for 1%. The five commonest causes of morbidity were malaria (60.7%), acute respiratory infection (35.8%), diarrhoeal disease (7.4%), skin infection (6.8%) and urinary tract infection (3.6%). The prevalence of malaria and acute respiratory disease were highest in patients aged between 12-23 months while diarrhoea was highest in the group 0-11 months. The prevalence of vaccine preventable diseases such as measles and tuberculosis were low accounting for 1.1% and 1% of morbidity respectively. CONCLUSION: This study shows that morbidity from vaccine preventable diseases is low, which is likely a reflection of the increased emphasis on immunization programmes. The major causes of morbidity in pre-school children in Owerri are still common diseases that have been around for a while and are basically preventable.