[Nutritional status on admission and hospital mortality of under-five year old children with infectious diseases in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso].
BACKGROUND
It is known that malnutrition in childhood interacting with infectious diseases contributes to increase mortality. In Burkina Faso, infectious pathologies and malnutrition are public health problems. We examined the impact of malnutrition status, using the Weight-for-age (WA) index, on mortality of children hospitalized for infectious diseases.


METHODS
This retrospective study uses a systematic sample derived from the year 1999 hospital register. In total data of 1573 children from 0 to 59 months were analyzed. The association between mortality and dependent variables was measured by relative risks (RR) in univariate analysis. A logistic regression was realized and attributable risk percent (etiologic fraction among exposed) of death was calculated.


RESULTS
The total intra-hospital lethality amounted to 15.3%. Age, diagnosis, type of care recourse and malnutrition (low WA index) on admission were associated to mortality. The logistic regression model confirmed the high risks of deaths for young children (0-11m), children in malnutrition (low WA index) and those with severe malaria. The attributable risk percent of death indicates that, 87% of deaths are statically attributable to severe malnutrition (WA Z-score<=-3) and 64.3% of deaths are statically attributable to moderate malnutrition (WA Z-score]-3, -2]).


CONCLUSIONS
Nutritional status evaluation would allow to select children at risk and reduce mortality by including nutritional intervention in standard treatment of children hospitalized for infectious diseases.
Savadogo
L G B
LG
Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé, BP 7047, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. gueswende@hotmail.com
Ouedraogo
H Z
HZ
Dramaix
M
M
Sawadogo
A
A
Sondo
B
B
Tonglet
R
R
Donnen
P
P
Hennart
P
P
D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D017677:Age Distribution; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002050:Burkina Faso / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D015362:Child Nutrition Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009752:Nutritional Status; D010343:Patient Admission; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index