Abstract:

Background: Congenital anomalies or birth defects are among the leading causes of infant mortality and morbidity around the world. The impact of congenital anomalies is particularly severe in middle-and low-income countries like Tanzania where health care resources are limited. The prevalence of congenital anomalies varies in different parts of the world, which could reflect different etiological factors in different geographical regions.

Methodology: This was retrospective study which was be done at Kagera regional hospital involving infant admitted from January 2017 to December 2018. Those infants with incomplete information or no specific anomaly documented were not a part the study. Case file was used collect infant’s information involving about 124 samples.

Significance of the study: This study will help to determine the Prevalence, Spatial Distribution and Associated Factors of reported congenital anomalies among Infants admitted at Kagera hospital, Tanzania.

Results: A total of 124 cases files of admitted infants were sampled for the study where boys were 75(60.5%) and girls were 49(39.5%) and as per groups less than 2 month were 47(37.9%), 2-4 month were 40(32.3%), 5-8 months were 12(9.1%) and 9-12 month were 25(20.2%). Different types of congenital anomalies where obtained from case files of infants admitted, which were grouped according to the system, MSCS anomalies were 49(39.5%), GIT anomalies were 29(23.4%), CNS anomalies were 25(20.2%) CVS anomalies were 14(11.5%), Down’s syndrome was 5 (4%) and others were 2 (1.6%).

Conclusion: The high prevalence of congenital anomalies observed in this study calls for a special attention for the public health to combat this health problem in Kagera region through primary secondary and tertiary prevention of this congenital anomalies.