TITLE:
Evaluation of the Quality of Hospital-Based Management of Severe Acute Malnutrition in Children under 5 in Benin
AUTHORS:
Tchasso Serge Kenao, Charles Sossa Jerome, Yolaine Glèlè Ahanhanzo, Ghislain Emmanuel Sopoh, Patrick Makoutodé, Victoire Damienne Agueh
KEYWORDS:
Evaluation, Severe Acute Malnutrition, Benin
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.8 No.11,
November
23,
2017
ABSTRACT:
Introduction: The aim of the study was to assess the quality of the management
of severe acute malnutrition in the Mono Departmental Hospital Center (CHD)
in Benin. Methods: This was a cross-sectional and evaluative study which took
place from 03 February to 20 July 2016. The study was carried out in the mono
departmental hospital of Lokossa. The non-probabilistic sampling method was
used to select all our study materials and all our targets were systematically selected.
Our study materials involved observation checklist, guidelines documents
and questionnaires to collect data. The assessment of the quality of the
hospital management of severe acute malnutrition was based on national and
international standards like Benin’s national protocol of acute malnutrition
management. Results: In our study, 27 cases of severe acute malnutrition
(SAM) in children were considered. The median age of those children was 12
months. The rates of the components inputs, process and results were 25%
(poor), 58.33% (acceptable) and 40% (poor), respectively. The sub components
with respect to the norms were all related to the management of severe acute
malnutrition like, availability of therapeutic foods ready for use, availability of
management protocol, availability of trained and supervised staff in the management
of the severe acute malnutrition and the proportion of dead and cured
children. The study showed that the quality of the management of severe acute
malnutrition at the mono departmental hospital of Lokossa was poor with a rate
of 41.38%. Conclusion: The quality of the management of severe acute malnutrition
at the mono departmental hospital of Lokossa was poor. The sub components that need to improve were the availability of therapeutic foods ready for
use, availability of management protocol, along with the training and supervision
of staff in charge of the management of severe acute malnutrition.