Indices of nutritional status in children with febrile convulsion.

Abstract

Febrile convulsion is a well known and researched problem but literature on the nutritional status of affected children is rather scanty, even from developing nations where malnutrition is a major cause or consequence of other diseases. Hendrickse 1 noted that convulsion was more frequent in well nourished than in malnourished children. Also, Familusi and Sinnette 2 observed nutrition to be average or above average in 99% of children with febrile convulsion in Ibadan, Nigeria. Malnutrition is known to increase the host's susceptibility to infections 3 while infections are the main causes of fever leading to febrile convulsion in the predisposed children. We have an ongoing study in which the objective of the study was to assess the nutritional status of children with febrile convulsion and to investigate any association between nutritional status and febrile illness. One hundred and fifteen children were admitted into the children's emergency ward of the Wesley Guild Hospital, Ilesa, Nigeria over a 12-month period where the diagnosis of febrile convulsion was studied. There were 59 boys and 56 girls. Sixty four (55.6%) of the patients had simple, while 51 (44.3%) had complex, febrile convulsion (a ratio of 1.3:1). The nutritional status of the patients was assessed by four anthropometric measurements viz: weight, height, mid upper arm circumference and head circumference. Using weight for age as the indicator, over two-thirds of the patients were assessed to be well nourished while the others were malnourished. Seven out of 22 (31.8%) malnourished children (WHZ 0.05). In conclusion, the data showed that febrile convulsion was more prevalent in well nourished than in malnourished children, and that among malnourished children, episodes of complex febrile convulsion were less than simple febrile convulsion. However, we could not establish a cause and effect relationship between nutritional status and febrile convulsion. The need to give all mothers health education on the prevention and management of febrile convulsion cannot be over emphasised. Further work is in progress.