TITLE:
Nutritional Assessment of Children Admitted at the Children’s Ward of the Volta Regional Hospital
AUTHORS:
Clifford Afu
KEYWORDS:
Malnutrition, Nutritional Assessment, Hospitalized Patients, Admission
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.4 No.6,
June
23,
2017
ABSTRACT: Background: In Ghana, nutritional assessment is not mandatory and as such majority of Children with nutritional challenges are unidentified and unmanaged; this is of a major concern knowing that malnutrition continues to be a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in most developing countries with Ghana as no exception and as such requires a lot of attention as a basis for prompt dietetic referral. Objective: To assess the practice regarding the measurement and documentation of anthropometric parameters of children age between 6-59 months admitted at the Volta Regional Hospital. Methodology: This was a one year retrospective review of sampled pediatric admissions at the Volta Regional Hospital. Results: Out of 242 folders reviewed, only 34 children (14%) had their MUAC documented. Height was measured in 0.4% of admitted patients. Weight was checked for 89.7% of folders reviewed making it the parameter with the highest level of monitoring. Growth problems were undiagnosed in 87.5% of patients with growth problems and likewise 85% of patients who were underweight were undiagnosed as a result of no nutritional assessment. Conclusions: There is the need for this study to be conducted on a regional and a national level. In spite of the many advances in medicine and clinical care, appropriate nutritional assessment of hospitalized patients appears to be overlooked or not considered as a sufficient medical priority. There is an urgent need to make nutritional assessment routine for all hospitalized children.