Disparities among pediatric hospital admissions according to gender

Background:The objective of the study was to determine the pattern of disparities among paediatric hospital admissions according to gender.Methods:This retrospective observational study was done at pediatric ward of Al-Tibri Medical College and Hospital Karachi from June 2018 to May 2019. Pediatric patients below 12 years of age admitted to the pediatric ward of the hospital were included while patients who were admitted for less than 24 hours, refused for consent by parent/guardian, surgical or ICU pediatric patients were excluded. SPSS was used for data analysis. Quantitative data included age, gender, diagnosis and seasonal variation, expressed as frequency in percentages and chi-square test was applied to test for significance.Results:Among 734 pediatric hospital admissions, 423 (58%) were males and 311 (42%) females. Highest percentages of pediatric admission in both genders were infants afterwhich second most patients were from the 1-4 years group in both genders (p=0.01). 215 patients of acute gastroenteritis were male while 142 females. Among patients admitted with respiratory disease, 56 were males while 48 were females. 52 male patients were admitted with viral fever while 34 patients admitted were females (p=0.01).Conclusions:Our study reported a significant difference among gender variances in pediatric hospital admissions. Overall, not only males were predominant in admission to pediatric wards, they were also found to be predominant in disease categorization. Further studies set to determine the reasons behind such gender differences would help in determining plans accordingly to improve outcome of diseases

Effects of diabetes education program on metabolic control among Saudi type 2 diabetic patients

To assess the effect of the 5-days intensive diabetes health education program on metabolic control among Saudi type 2 diabetic patients. The study included 438 individuals, 158[36.1%] females and 280[63.9%] males with type 2 diabetes. All patients completed the 5-days diabetes education program. They did not require any change in their current therapy regimen, had not previously participated in any diabetes education programs, Saudi patients, of both genders, non-pregnant and older than 30 years. They were followed for one year after attending a 5-days structured education program conducted at University Diabetes Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Data were collected for each individual before attending the program, three months later, and one year after completion of the program. After one year, all metabolic parameters had improved significantly [P<0.0001] except for high density lipoprotein[HDL] [P =0.097] as follows: body weight [mean +/- SD] 78.72 +/- 13.77 to 78.11 +/- 13.33 Kg; systolic blood pressure 137.69 +/- 15.56 to 129.5 +/- 15.09 mmHg; diastolic blood pressure 77.27 +/- 8.11 to 72.9 +/- 7.30 mmHg; fasting blood sugar 10 +/- 2.62 to 8.19 +/- 2.04 mmol/l; HbA1c 8.78% +/- 1.78% to 7.87% +/- 1.56% ; triglycerides 1.98 +/- 0.9 to 1.51 +/- 0.67 mmol/l; total cholesterol 4.77 +/- 0.83 to 3.9 +/- 0.83mmol/l; low density lipoprotein 2.71 +/- 0.66 to 2.15 +/- 0.59mmol/l, and high density lipoprotein improved by an increase from 1.28 +/- 0.4 to 1.31 +/- 0.24 mmol/l. This study demonstrates that intensive education program provided by a trained professional healthcare team is an effective approach and reinforces the need for implementing such education program as an essential part for metabolic control among diabetic patients.

Blood transfusion is associated with increase resource utilization and bacterial infection

To observe the association of blood transfusion and clinical outcome in cardiac surgery patients. Forty patients underwent cardiac surgery during a period of two months in a single institution. Coronary artery bypass surgery [CABG] was performed in 21 [52.5%] patients, Mitral valve replacement [MVR] in 15 [37.5%] patients, aortic valve replacement [AVR] in 2 [5%] patients and Atrial septal defect [ASD] was closed in 2 [5%] patients. The mean age of the patients were 41.7 +/- 18 years, 80% were male. Twenty five [62.5%] patients required blood transfusion. Transfusion group showed chest wound infection [7.5%], pulmonary oedema [12.5%] and shortness of breath [10%]. Total leukocyte count and platelets count were significantly lower in transfusion group. We conclude that blood transfusion is associated with increased rate of infection and pulmonary oedema, with high cost and resource utilization. Blood transfusion should be used with appropriate caution

adult with morquio syndrome

We report a case of a 25-year-old male who came to endocrine clinic to get medical certificate so as to claim as the shortest man of the world. He was evaluated for short stature and eventually diagnosed with type-IV mucopolysaccharidosis [MPS] or Morquio syndrome