Pattern of Paediatric Mortality of hospitalized patients in a Tertiary Care Hospital Rawalpindi

Abstract

Introduction: Mortality of children is the prime indicator of a country’s health status and its development. Understanding child mortality among different age groups is one of the valuable public health insights. Therefore, studies regarding child mortality patterns are essential for re-evaluating existing health services.

Objective: The objective of this study is to describe the pattern of paediatric mortality in our hospital.

Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was done with the medical records of Pediatric patients (up to 12 years)who died in the Pediatrics department of Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Rawalpindi from 1^stJan2018 to 31^stDec 2018.

Results: A total of 15,500 children were admitted to the Paediatric department from 1st January 2018 to 31st December 2018. A total of 1738 deaths were recorded. The overall mortality of 11.3% was noted in the cases admitted to the Paediatric Department.

Conclusion: Septicemia, Acute respiratory infection(ARI)/Pneumonia, Birth asphyxia, and low birth weight (LBW)/prematurity were the major causes of pediatrics mortality.