The Outcome of Emergency Admissions and Associated Factors Among Children Admitted to the Pediatric Emergency Unit at Selected Public Hospitals at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: A pediatric emergency condition is a life-threatening process that, without timely and standard clinical intervention, may lead to death. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the outcomes of emergency admissions and associated factors among children admitted to the pediatric emergency of selected public hospitals. METHODS: An institutional-based retrospective cross-sectional study design was conducted on children admitted to the emergency unit of randomly selected public hospitals from January 02, 2020, to January 08, 2022. Data were extracted from admitted Childrens’ chart using prepared checklists from February 1 to March 1, 2022. RESULT: A total of 303 admitted children’s charts were reviewed with 100% coverage. The mean age of children was 37.47 months, and the male-to-female ratio was 1.16:1. The study revealed that the most common causes of emergency admission were pneumonia (22.4%), surgical emergencies (14.5%), and late-onset sepsis (9.2%), respectively. More than half (53.8%) of children were admitted to the Pediatric Emergency Department for less than 24 hours, and the mean length of stay was 2 days. 39.6% of children were discharged with clinical improvement. Known comorbidity and length of stay less than 24 hours were strongly associated with the health care intervention. CONCLUSION: The study indicates that mortality rate of children at the Pediatric Emergency Department of study hospitals is high, with known comorbidity showing a significant association with mortality. FMOH recommended to develop national pediatric emergency care guidelines as standard document and providing skill gap training for healthcare workers.