A Retrospective Study on Mortality Pattern of Hospitalised Children in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Childhood mortality could contribute to a more effective approach to saving child's life.

To find the mortality pattern of hospitalised children at a tertiary care level.

A retrospective study was conducted with hospitalised patients below 12 years those who died in paediatrics and neonatal departments in a tertiary care hospital from January 2008 to December 2008. The data related to the study were collected from the registers maintained in the medical records department.

Out of 7105 admissions, males (4128, 58.1%) were more compared to females (2977, 41.9%) and 2061 (29%) were neonates. Out of these admissions, 66 (9.3%) were died, among them 38 (58.1%) were males and 28 (41.9%) were females. Most of the deaths occurred in the neonatal period (55, 83.3%). The proportion of death was more or less similar in both sexes. Proportion of deaths to admission was more or less similar across different months in the year, and it was noted that there was no seasonal variation in deaths. The main causes of deaths were due to respiratory diseases (16, 24.2%), preterm birth (12, 18.2%), sepsis and septicaemia (8, 12.1%), disorders of cardiovascular system (3, 4.5%), gastrointestinal disorder (3, 3.5%), disorders of renal system (3, 4.5%), disorders of nervous system (2, 3.0%) and others (19, 28.8%). The main causes of neonatal deaths were respiratory diseases (15, 27.3%). The average duration of the hospital stay of died patients during the study period was 4 days.

Neonatal deaths were very high in this study. It suggests that antenatal and newborn care should be improved for reducing the neonatal deaths.