Morbidity and mortality pattern of admissions into the Emergency Paediatric Unit of University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada.

BACKGROUND: Emergency paediatric unit (EPU) is a key service area in many tertiary health institutions. The concept of performance evaluation in the hospital is an indispensible tool for evaluating the health care service rendered to the populace, generation of base line data for comparative purposes, policy formulation as well as planning for health care operatives. Since the inception of the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH) in 1983, there has been no comprehensive review of performance activities in this very important key service area of the hospital.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the pattern and outcome of admissions into of the EPU of the hospital.
METHODS: A review of all admissions into the EPU of UATH over one year was carried out to determine the pattern ofmorbidity and mortality in the unit. The data retrieved from the Medical Records Department of the hospital of all children admitted into the EPU between January and December 2008 included sex, age, body weight, diagnosis, number of days on admission, and outcome ofadmission.
RESULTS: Six hundred patients were admitted into the unit during the review period. The three leading causes of admissions were severe anaemia from severe malaria (14.7%), pneumonia (13.8%) and gastroenteritis (11.2%); while the least causes were surgical conditions (0.8%), bone/soft tissue disorders (1.5%) and renal conditions (1.5%). Children less than five years were responsible for 80.1% of all admissions, while those less than two years accounted for 56.8% and infants less than one year (30.8%). Diarrhoeal disease (20.0%), severe anaemia from severe malaria (12.6%), malnutrition (11.6%), were the three major causes of mortality in children in the present review. Although meningitis was among the least causes of admission, it however caused the highest mortality of 45.5% per disease entity. The overall mortality rate in this study was 15.8%.
CONCLUSION: The vulnerability of under-five years to both infectious and nutritional disorders are highlighted in this study and underscores the importance of strengthening and sustaining the existing childhood preventive programmes. Improving the wellbeing of the populace, as well as health education and disease surveillance will help in reduction of these disorders in children.