Abstract

Background: Undernutrition is a major developmental concern in Uganda, affecting all regions equally. It has been known as the skeleton in the hospital closet because it’s overlooked, undiagnosed and untreated by health practitioners. Most studies done on undernutrition had been public facility and community based, as far as we are aware of, none had been private facility based. The study described the burden, patterns and the sociodemographic factors associated with acute undernutrition in hospitalized children on the paediatric ward of KIUTH.
Methods: A hospital based cross-sectional descriptive and analytical study was conducted in paediatric ward of Kampala International University Teaching Hospital between January and May 2017. Structured interviews were administered to caregivers of children aged 6 month to 12 years admitted on the ward. Data collected included socio-demographic characteristics, anthropometric measurement. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was done to find the socio-economic factors associated with acute undernutrition.
Results: 379 caregiver-children pair were studied. 150(39.6%) 95%CI 34.8-44.6 children were undernourished. Children who stayed with non-biological caregivers were 3.13 at risk of acute undernutrition (aOR 3.13, 95%CI 1.03-9.51, p=0.04), those from Buhweju district were 20.80 times at risk of acute undernutrition (aOR 20.80, 95%CI 2.04-211.60, p=0.01). Children whose caregivers had no level of formal education were 3.07 times at risk of acute undernutrition than those who had primary level of formal education (aOR 3.07, 95%CI1.38-6.83, p=0.006). Likewise those who resided in semi-permanent houses were 3.01 times more likely to have acute undernutrition than those from permanent houses (aOR 3.01, 95%CI1.45-6.25, p=0.003). Conclusion: The proportion of children with undernutrition in this paediatric ward was high. Hospital need to create a nutritional unit. Children with none-biological caregivers, Buhweju and whose caregivers have no formal education, those from semi-permanent houses need to have a more comprehensive nutritional assessment whenever they present to the hospital for care.