Nutritional Assessment of Children Admitted at the Children’s Ward of the Volta Regional Hospital - Open Access Library Journal

OALibJ > Vol.4 No.6, June 2017

Nutritional Assessment of Children Admitted at the Children’s Ward of the Volta Regional Hospital ()

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DOI: 10.4236/oalib.1103690 946 Downloads 2,991 Views Citations

Author(s)

Clifford Afu

Affiliation(s)

Department of Physician Assistantship, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Volta Region, Ghana.

ABSTRACT

Background: In Ghana, nutritional assessment is not mandatory and as such majority of Children with nutritional challenges are unidentified and unmanaged; this is of a major concern knowing that malnutrition continues to be a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in most developing countries with Ghana as no exception and as such requires a lot of attention as a basis for prompt dietetic referral. Objective: To assess the practice regarding the measurement and documentation of anthropometric parameters of children age between 6-59 months admitted at the Volta Regional Hospital. Methodology: This was a one year retrospective review of sampled pediatric admissions at the Volta Regional Hospital. Results: Out of 242 folders reviewed, only 34 children (14%) had their MUAC documented. Height was measured in 0.4% of admitted patients. Weight was checked for 89.7% of folders reviewed making it the parameter with the highest level of monitoring. Growth problems were undiagnosed in 87.5% of patients with growth problems and likewise 85% of patients who were underweight were undiagnosed as a result of no nutritional assessment. Conclusions: There is the need for this study to be conducted on a regional and a national level. In spite of the many advances in medicine and clinical care, appropriate nutritional assessment of hospitalized patients appears to be overlooked or not considered as a sufficient medical priority. There is an urgent need to make nutritional assessment routine for all hospitalized children.

KEYWORDS

Malnutrition, Nutritional Assessment, Hospitalized Patients, Admission

Share and Cite:

Afu, C. (2017) Nutritional Assessment of Children Admitted at the Children’s Ward of the Volta Regional Hospital. Open Access Library Journal, 4, 1-7. doi: 10.4236/oalib.1103690.

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