Causes of childhood morbidity and mortality in emergency pediatrics unit of rasheed shekoni specialist hospital, Dutse, Jigawa State, Nigeria

Context: Under-five mortality rate in Nigeria is still high. Majority of the death are due to preventable diseases. Aim: To identify the causes of morbidity and mortality and mortality rate among children admitted to the Emergency Pediatrics Unit. Setting and Design: The study was a retrospective. Medical records of children admitted to Emergency Pediatric Unit of state specialist hospital in north-western Nigeria from January 2017 to December 2018 were retrieved. Material and Method: A designed proforma was used to extract information from medical records. Ethical clearance was obtained from the hospital. Statistical Analysis Used: Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16. Results: Records of 1,126 children admitted were analyzed. Their ages were 1 month to 13 years. Severe malaria (45.6%) and sepsis (13.9%) were the common reasons for admission. Majority (60.0%) were discharged home, 29.0% were transferred to the ward, and 0.5% discharged against medical advice. Mortality rate was 10.5%. Majority (50.3%) of the mortalities occurred less than 24 hours of admission. Under-five children had highest mortality (66.9%). Conclusion: Infectious diseases especially malaria and sepsis are still common causes of morbidity and mortality in children admitted to emergency unit.