Pattern of respiratory diseases in children presenting to the paediatric emergency unit of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu: a case series report

Respiratory diseases are one of the causes of childhood morbidity and mortality as well as hospitalization globally. The patterns of different respiratory illnesses in several parts of the world have been reported but there are few on the combined burden of the diseases. Determination of the burden of respiratory diseases as a group will help ascertain their collective impact on the health systems in order to develop intervention measures.

Data from case notes of children with respiratory diseases admitted to the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Enugu, Nigeria over a six year period were extracted. Age, gender, admission rates, types of respiratory illness, duration of admission, season of presentation and outcome were analysed. Descriptive and inferential (Chi square) statistics were used to describe the various disease types and ascertain association of the disease outcome, seasonal pattern with the types of diseases.

Of the total of 8974 children admissions, 2214 (24.7%) were due to respiratory diseases. The mean age of all the children with respiratory diseases was 3.3 years (SD 3.9). Communicable diseases were the common cause of admission cases throughout the seasons, p < 0.001. The highest admission rates were for pneumonia, (34.0%), acute bronchial asthma, (27.7%) and rhinosinusitis (14.6%) p < 0.001. The frequency of respiratory disease decreases with age and children less than five years of age and of low socio-economic status were commonly affected, p = 0.01. The median duration of hospital stay was two days [range 1 to 8 days], children less than five years old and those of low socio-economic status, spent more than four days (p = 0.01 and p < 0.001 respectively). The all-cause mortality was 0.5% (11/2214) of which 81.8% (9/11) was due to pneumonia.

Respiratory diseases constitute a significant burden of childhood illnesses in our centre. Efforts are required to reduce the impact as part of the steps towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.