Abstract:

Background: The health and wellbeing of children is a major importance. Even though much activity and effort is directed towards promoting children’s health there is scarcity of information of child health morbidity in the country. The objective of this study was to review pediatric admission and discharge indications of Tumbi Referral Hospital in Tanzania.

Method: A hospital based cross sectional study with a follow up component was conducted in the analysis of pediatric ward admission and discharge of Tumbi Referral Hospital during August 16th to September 18th. The main diagnosis, cause of admission and death were included in the analysis. Data were analyzed by excel spread sheet and result presented as percentage.

Results: Three hundred and twenty pediatric patients were admitted to the hospital within the one month and two days period. Most common diagnosis leading to pediatric admission were disease of respiratory system (85, 44%), prematurity, infective, together with non-communicable disease like malnutrition. Most deaths were observed in children, <1 months of age mainly due to prematurity and neonatal sepsis, followed by diarrheal disease and pneumonia which predominated in under five.

Conclusion: Preventable infections are the major cause of morbidity and mortality in Tumbi Referral Hospital and children <5 years of age are commonly affected.