The clinical profile and outcome of children with acute malnutrition in a tertiary health center in North-West Nigeria: A 1-year retrospective review

Background: Acute malnutrition is broadly classified as severe acute malnutrition (SAM) or moderate acute malnutrition (MAM). It affects almost 20 million children worldwide, with majority of the cases in developing countries. In Africa, it was estimated that about 5%–15% of deaths in children age ranging from 0 to 59 months are due to SAM. Therefore, this study sought to determine common clinical features and outcome in children with acute malnutrition. Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted at the Federal Medical Centre Birnin Kudu, Jigawa State. Case files of patients admitted into the Emergency Pediatric unit and Ppediatric Medical Ward over the period of 1 year (January–December 2017) with a diagnosis of acute malnutrition were reviewed. Results: There were 123 cases of acute malnutrition during the study period: 53 (43.1%) males and 70 (56.9%) females. There were 103 (83.7%) cases of SAM and 20 (16.3%) cases of MAM. Among the SAM cases, there were 70 (56.9%) cases of marasmus, 10 (8.1%) cases of kwashiorkor, and 23 (18.7%) cases of marasmic kwashiorkor. Infection was the most common morbidity associated with SAM. Relatively death was mostly witnessed in the marasmic kwashiorkor subgroup (17.4%). However, majority of the subjects who spent 1–2 weeks on admission were discharged without complications, while death occurred mostly in those who spent <7 days on admission and this observation was statistically significant (Fisher's exact = 32.351, P = 0.001). Conclusion: Marasmus remains the most common form of SAM, and infection is a common comorbidity; however, majority of our cases were discharged without any noticeable complication.