ABSTRACT
WHO advises the use of an international standard reference curve for monitoring the growth of infants and children. However, other countries found a discrepancy between their anthropometric measures in comparison to those of the WHO. Therefore, they developed their own growth reference curve [RC]
Objectives: To compare anthropometric parameters of Egyptian infants and children [0-24 months] with those calculated in reference to the WHO standards
Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted at eight PHCCs located at different regions in Cairo Governorate. Data including sex, date of birth, visit date, weight and height were abstracted from the records routinely collected at the PHCCs. Sex specific weight for age, length for age Z scores and percentiles were calculated to our sample and then compared to the WHO growth reference standards
Results: A total of 6656 infants and children were included in our study: 3418 boys and 3238 girls. Below 9 months, the RC assigned a lower proportion of infants as underweight [<-2 Z score] in comparison to our sample. However, from 9 to 24 months the RC allocated a higher proportion of infants and children as underweight than our sample. The same findings were observed in both sexes. On the other hand, the RC considered a higher proportion of infants and children below 2 years as overweight [>+2 Z score] in both sexes in comparison to our sample. Also, the RC assigned a higher proportion of short males in the ages of 6 months, 9, 12 and 18 months in comparison to our sample. In conclusion, disagreement was noticed when comparing our anthropometric measures to those of WHO reference standards consequently, the development of a national Egyptian reference growth curve beside a new international reference curve is mandatory.
ABSTRACT
This study was carried out to describe the end stage renal disease [ESRD] among Egyptian patients and to identify the possible risk factors of their disease. A case-control study was conducted with two control groups [patient or hospital control group and normal community control group] compared with ESRD cases on hemodialysis. The study revealed that hypertension followed by obstructive uropathy are the leading causes of ESRD. Conducting the multiple logistic regression analysis, the following factors were found to act independently as risk factors for ESRD in the following order of importance: Past history of hypertension, family history of renal failure, past history of renal pain, smoking, urban origin of birth, past history of renal or urinary stones, past history of schistosomiasis, the presence of a near-by residential factory and past history of frequent hospitalization. A quality of life score has been invented