TY - JOUR
T1 - Examining comorbidities in children with diarrhea across four provinces of Mozambique
T2 - A cross-sectional study (2015 to 2019)
AU - Bauhofer, Adilson Fernando Loforte
AU - Sambo, Júlia
AU - Chilaúle, Jorfélia J.
AU - Conjo, Carolina
AU - Munlela, Benilde
AU - Chissaque, Assucênio
AU - Isaías, Telma
AU - Djedje, Marlene
AU - de Deus, Nilsa
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright: © 2023 Bauhofer et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2023/9
Y1 - 2023/9
N2 - Comorbidities are defined as the simultaneous occurrence of two or more diseases within the same individual. Comorbidities can delay a patient’s recovery and increase the costs of treatment. Assessing comorbidities can provide local health care policy-makers with evidence of the most common multi-health impairments in children. This could aid in redirecting and integrating care and treatment services by increasing health facilities the awareness and readiness of health facilities. The present analysis aims to determine the frequency and associated factors of comorbidities in children with diarrhea in Mozambique. A cross-sectional hospital-based analysis was conducted between January 2015 and December 2019 in children up to 59 months of age who were admitted with diarrhea in six reference hospitals in Mozambique. These hospitals are distributed across the country’s three regions, with at least one hospital in each province from each region. Sociodemographic and clinical data were obtained through semi-structured interviews and by reviewing the child clinical process. Descriptive statistics, and Mann-Whitney-U tests were used. Crude and adjusted logistics regression models were built. P-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Comorbidities were observed in 55.5% of patients (389/701; 95%CI: 51.8–59.1). Wasting was the most common comorbidity (30.2%; 212/701) and pneumonia was the least common (1.7%; 12/701). Children born with a low birth weight were 2.420 times more likely to have comorbidities, adjusted odds ratio: 2.420 (95% CI: 1.339–4374). The median (interquartile range) duration of hospitalization was significantly higher in children with comorbidities than without comorbidities, 5 days (3–7) and 4 days (3–6), respectively (p-value < 0.001). One in every two children with diarrhea in Mozambique has an additional health impairment, and this increases the length of their hospital stay.
AB - Comorbidities are defined as the simultaneous occurrence of two or more diseases within the same individual. Comorbidities can delay a patient’s recovery and increase the costs of treatment. Assessing comorbidities can provide local health care policy-makers with evidence of the most common multi-health impairments in children. This could aid in redirecting and integrating care and treatment services by increasing health facilities the awareness and readiness of health facilities. The present analysis aims to determine the frequency and associated factors of comorbidities in children with diarrhea in Mozambique. A cross-sectional hospital-based analysis was conducted between January 2015 and December 2019 in children up to 59 months of age who were admitted with diarrhea in six reference hospitals in Mozambique. These hospitals are distributed across the country’s three regions, with at least one hospital in each province from each region. Sociodemographic and clinical data were obtained through semi-structured interviews and by reviewing the child clinical process. Descriptive statistics, and Mann-Whitney-U tests were used. Crude and adjusted logistics regression models were built. P-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Comorbidities were observed in 55.5% of patients (389/701; 95%CI: 51.8–59.1). Wasting was the most common comorbidity (30.2%; 212/701) and pneumonia was the least common (1.7%; 12/701). Children born with a low birth weight were 2.420 times more likely to have comorbidities, adjusted odds ratio: 2.420 (95% CI: 1.339–4374). The median (interquartile range) duration of hospitalization was significantly higher in children with comorbidities than without comorbidities, 5 days (3–7) and 4 days (3–6), respectively (p-value < 0.001). One in every two children with diarrhea in Mozambique has an additional health impairment, and this increases the length of their hospital stay.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85172711052&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0292093
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0292093
M3 - Article
C2 - 37751426
AN - SCOPUS:85172711052
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 18
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 9 September
M1 - e0292093
ER -
