Using data from a multi-hospital clinical network to explore prevalence of pediatric rickets in Kenya

<p><strong>Background:</strong> Nutritional rickets is a public health concern in developing countries despite tropical climates and a re-emerging issue in developed countries. In this study, we reviewed pediatric admission data from the Clinical Information Network (CIN) to help d...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Karuri, S, Murithi, M, Irimu, G, English, M
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: F1000Research 2017
_version_ 1797056629959557120
author Karuri, S
Murithi, M
Irimu, G
English, M
author_facet Karuri, S
Murithi, M
Irimu, G
English, M
author_sort Karuri, S
collection OXFORD
description <p><strong>Background:</strong> Nutritional rickets is a public health concern in developing countries despite tropical climates and a re-emerging issue in developed countries. In this study, we reviewed pediatric admission data from the Clinical Information Network (CIN) to help determine hospital and region based prevalence of rickets in three regions of Kenya (Central Kenya, Western Kenya and Nairobi County). We also examine the association of rickets with other diagnosis, such as malnutrition and pneumonia, and study the effect of rickets on regional hospital stays.<br/><strong>Methods:</strong> We analyzed discharge records for children aged 1 month to 5 years from county (formerly district) hospitals in the CIN, with admissions from February 1<sup>st</sup> 2014 to February 28<sup>th</sup> 2015. The strength of the association between rickets and key demographic factors, as well as with malnutrition and pneumonia, was assessed using odds ratios. The Fisher exact test was used to test the significance of the estimated odd ratios. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to analyze length of hospital stays.<br/><strong>Results:</strong> There was a marked difference in prevalence across the three regions, with Nairobi having the highest number of cases of rickets at a proportion of 4.01%, followed by Central Region at 0.92%. Out of 9756 admissions in the Western Region, there was only one diagnosis of rickets. Malnutrition was associated with rickets; this association varied regionally. Pneumonia was found to be associated with rickets in Central Kenya. Children diagnosed with rickets had longer hospital stays, even when cases of malnutrition and pneumonia were excluded in the analysis.<br/><strong>Conclusion:</strong> There was marked regional variation in hospital based prevalence of rickets, but in some regions it is a common clinical diagnosis suggesting the need for targeted public health interventions. Factors such as maternal and child nutrition, urbanization and cultural practices might explain these differences.</p>
first_indexed 2024-03-06T19:25:18Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:1b7e1f17-0df9-4805-86b9-ae9a77aa8da9
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-06T19:25:18Z
publishDate 2017
publisher F1000Research
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:1b7e1f17-0df9-4805-86b9-ae9a77aa8da92022-03-26T11:00:44ZUsing data from a multi-hospital clinical network to explore prevalence of pediatric rickets in KenyaJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:1b7e1f17-0df9-4805-86b9-ae9a77aa8da9EnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordF1000Research2017Karuri, SMurithi, MIrimu, GEnglish, M<p><strong>Background:</strong> Nutritional rickets is a public health concern in developing countries despite tropical climates and a re-emerging issue in developed countries. In this study, we reviewed pediatric admission data from the Clinical Information Network (CIN) to help determine hospital and region based prevalence of rickets in three regions of Kenya (Central Kenya, Western Kenya and Nairobi County). We also examine the association of rickets with other diagnosis, such as malnutrition and pneumonia, and study the effect of rickets on regional hospital stays.<br/><strong>Methods:</strong> We analyzed discharge records for children aged 1 month to 5 years from county (formerly district) hospitals in the CIN, with admissions from February 1<sup>st</sup> 2014 to February 28<sup>th</sup> 2015. The strength of the association between rickets and key demographic factors, as well as with malnutrition and pneumonia, was assessed using odds ratios. The Fisher exact test was used to test the significance of the estimated odd ratios. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to analyze length of hospital stays.<br/><strong>Results:</strong> There was a marked difference in prevalence across the three regions, with Nairobi having the highest number of cases of rickets at a proportion of 4.01%, followed by Central Region at 0.92%. Out of 9756 admissions in the Western Region, there was only one diagnosis of rickets. Malnutrition was associated with rickets; this association varied regionally. Pneumonia was found to be associated with rickets in Central Kenya. Children diagnosed with rickets had longer hospital stays, even when cases of malnutrition and pneumonia were excluded in the analysis.<br/><strong>Conclusion:</strong> There was marked regional variation in hospital based prevalence of rickets, but in some regions it is a common clinical diagnosis suggesting the need for targeted public health interventions. Factors such as maternal and child nutrition, urbanization and cultural practices might explain these differences.</p>
spellingShingle Karuri, S
Murithi, M
Irimu, G
English, M
Using data from a multi-hospital clinical network to explore prevalence of pediatric rickets in Kenya
title Using data from a multi-hospital clinical network to explore prevalence of pediatric rickets in Kenya
title_full Using data from a multi-hospital clinical network to explore prevalence of pediatric rickets in Kenya
title_fullStr Using data from a multi-hospital clinical network to explore prevalence of pediatric rickets in Kenya
title_full_unstemmed Using data from a multi-hospital clinical network to explore prevalence of pediatric rickets in Kenya
title_short Using data from a multi-hospital clinical network to explore prevalence of pediatric rickets in Kenya
title_sort using data from a multi hospital clinical network to explore prevalence of pediatric rickets in kenya
work_keys_str_mv AT karuris usingdatafromamultihospitalclinicalnetworktoexploreprevalenceofpediatricricketsinkenya
AT murithim usingdatafromamultihospitalclinicalnetworktoexploreprevalenceofpediatricricketsinkenya
AT irimug usingdatafromamultihospitalclinicalnetworktoexploreprevalenceofpediatricricketsinkenya
AT englishm usingdatafromamultihospitalclinicalnetworktoexploreprevalenceofpediatricricketsinkenya