Abstract
BackgroundIt is evident that renal dysfunction (RD) is associated with unique infectious and non-infectious causes in African children. However, little data exists about the prevalence and factors associated with RD in children admitted to African hospitals.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, we enrolled all children admitted to pediatric wards of Bugando Medical Centre (BMC) and Sekou-Toure Regional Referral hospital (SRRH) during a 6 month time period. Socio-demographical, clinical and laboratory data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated using modified Schwartz equation and those with < 60 ml/min/1.73m2were considered to have RD. Data analysis was done using STATA version 13 and considered significant when p-value was < 0.05.ResultsA total of 513 children were enrolled, of which 297 (57.9%) were males. Median age of children with and without RD was 34 months (27–60) and 46.5 (29–72) respectively. Prevalence of RD was 16.2%. Factors associated with RD were herbal medication use (p = 0.007), history of sore throat or skin infection (p = 0.024), sickle cell disease (SCD) (p = 0.006), dehydration (p = 0.001), malaria (p = 0.01) and proteinuria (p = < 0.001).ConclusionsHigh prevalence of RD was observed among children admitted to referral hospitals in Mwanza. Screening for RD should be performed on admitted children, particularly those with history of herbal medication use, sore throat/skin infection, SCD, dehydration and malaria. Where creatinine measurement is not possible, screening for proteinuria is a reasonable alternative.
Highlights
It is evident that renal dysfunction (RD) is associated with unique infectious and non-infectious causes in African children
Among other factors which might contribute to high prevalence is use of herbal medicine which is common in Tanzania [15]. Study site This hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among children admitted to Bugando Medical Centre (BMC) and Sekou-Toure Regional Referral (SRRH) hospitals based in Mwanza – Tanzania, between August 2014 and February 2015
Though Human Immunodificiency Virus (HIV) infection did not predict for RD in this study, the observed difference could be explained by the fact that children in our study had more co-morbid conditions which could have predisposed them to RD compared to studies done in Mwanza and Dar-es-salaam
Summary
It is evident that renal dysfunction (RD) is associated with unique infectious and non-infectious causes in African children. Little data exists about the prevalence and factors associated with RD in children admitted to African hospitals. Renal dysfunction (RD) in children is still a major health problem with unclear epidemiology especially in resource limited settings [1, 2]. The prevalence of impaired renal function is estimated to range between 10 and 20% among adult population [4]. Recent studies done in our country showed a higher prevalence of renal disease among selected children population [11,12,13,14]. In northwest Tanzanian referral hospitals, the precise prevalence of RD among
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