PREVALENCE OF HYPOXAEMIA IN PAEDIATRIC PATIENTS ATTENDING CHILDREN OUT PATIENT CLINIC

Abstract

Background; In more developed countries, it is a common practice to usepulse oximetry for the diagnosis of hypoxaemia, regrettably, it is not so inresource limited environments like ours especially in outpatient settings whilecarrying out emergency triage assessment. Aim; The aim of this study was todetermine the prevalence of undictated hypoxaemia among children presentingto the children outpatient clinic of the department of paediatrics at theUniversity of Port Harcourt teaching hospital. Methods; This descriptivecross-sectional study of the prevalence of hypoxemia was conducted at thechildren outpatient clinic of the department of paediatrics at the University ofPort Harcourt teaching hospital. The room air oxygen saturations of paediatricoutpatients were measured at rest from May, 2019 to September, 2019 usingdigital pulse oximetry. Hypoxaemia was defined as SpO2 less than 90% inroom air at rest. Results; A total of 351 children were recruited for the study ofwhich 201 (57.3%) were males and 150 (42.7%) were females giving a Male:Female ratio of 1.34:1, 233(66.38%) were under-fives. Prevalence ofhypoxaemia was 40(11.4%). Acute respiratory infection (ARI) was thecommonest condition presenting to the children outpatient clinic in 119(33.9%)and it was also the condition with the highest prevalence of hypoxia 11(27.5%) of all the cases with hypoxia followed by malaria 4(10%) anddiarrhoea 4(10%) Oximetry finding enabled patient to be seen faster( accelerating triaging) and sent to the children emergency room for oxygentherapy amidst other treatments. In conclusions, there is a high prevalence ofhypoxemia among children presenting at the outpatient clinic of the departmentof paediatrics at the University of Port Harcourt teaching hospital. Thereshould be routine screening for hypoxaemia during emergency triage andassessment by the outpatient clinic nurses. Pulse oximeter should be madeavailable to the outpatient clinic nurses by the hospital to enable them routinelyscreen for hypoxaemia and prioritize the patients with hypoxaemia amongpatients to be quickly seen by paediatricians and oxygen therapy commencedto reduce morbidity and mortality from hypoxaemia.Key words: Hypoxia Paediatrics Prevalence Children Pulse Oximetry Oxygen