Mortality Pattern within Twenty-Four Hours of Emergency Paediatric Admission in a Resource-Poor Nation Health Facility

BACKGROUND: Mortality among emergency paediatric admissions within the first 24 hours is high in resource- poor nations. Measures to reduce the childhood mortality rate can only be effectively planned and implemented when the causes and magnitude of this problem are well defined. OBJECTIVE: To determine the mortality pattern among emergency paediatric admissions within the first 24 hours in a health facility in Nigeria. METHODS: The clinical state and progress of post-neonatal patients who presented alive and were admitted into the emergency paediatric room of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria were monitored over a period of six months. The monitoring included records of diagnosis and outcome of management. RESULTS: A total of 606 children were admitted during the period of study out of which 51(8.4%) died. Twenty-nine (57%) of the deaths occurred within the first 24 hours of admission comprising 15 (51.7%) males and 14 (48.3%) females giving M:F ratio of about of 1:1. Majority of the deaths were among patients who reported late to the hospital. Loss of consciousness was a strong risk factor for mortality within 24 hours of admission. The highest mortality within the first 24 hours of admission was recorded among patients with malaria (89.0%) followed by protein energy malnutrition. CONCLUSION: Majority of deaths among emergency paediatric admission occur within the first 24 hours of admission and are associated with clinical conditions such as malaria and protein-energy malnutrition for which sustained intervention strategies must be developed.