ABSTRACT
Background: developmental problems or delays are preventable and others may be ameliorated by interventions. Developmental delay and factors associated with it therefore need to be identified in order for early and appropriate interventions to be instituted. This study therefore aimed to determine the prevalence of developmental delay among under-fives and identify the sociodemographic factors associated with the delay.Methods: Four hundred and fifteen Nigerian children, aged 6- 59 months were assessed for development using the Schedule of Growing Skills II tool. Developmental quotient below threshold point of 85% in a developmental domain was used to define developmental delay. Results: Of the 415 children assessed, 147 (35.4%) had delay in the various developmental domains. The highest prevalence was in the manipulative domain (25.8%) followed by visual (17.1%), cognitive skill (13.5%), hearing and language (6.3%), interactive social (5.8%), self-care social (4.4%) and speech and language (4.1%). Low maternal education was significantly associated with delay in locomotive domain (4.3%; OR=5.00; 95% CI=1.04-23.84), manipulative domain (32.4%; OR=1.89; Most 95% CI=1.21-2.95), visual domain (22.9%; OR=2.11; 95% CI=1.25-3.55), speech and language (6.4%; OR=3.03; 95% CI=1.05-8.75), interactive social (8%; OR=3.05; 95% CI=1.32-7.04), self-care social (6.9%; OR=3.30; 95% CI=1.15-9.43), cognitive (17.6%; OR=1.89; 95% CI= 1.07-3.35). Birth order and household size also had significant association with delay in various domains. There was no significant association between socioeconomic class and developmental delay in any of the domains.Conclusion: The study showed that developmental delay was relatively common among under-five children in North-West Nigeria; and has a strong association with some socio demographic factors. There is need to screen children for developmental delay for early intervention
Subject(s)
Child , Child Development , Early Intervention, Educational , Social Skills , Socioeconomic FactorsABSTRACT
Cerebral malaria is a significant cause of childhood morbidity in our region. The challenges of effective management include time and quality of treatment. The study appraised the health care seeking behavior of caregivers of sick children who developed cerebral malaria, in Zaria, northwestern Nigeria. Caregivers indentified were parents 29 (87.9%) and grandparents 4 (12.1%). Most of them were in the upper social classes. Health care options utilized before presentation at our facility were formal health facility 24 (72.7%), patent medicine seller 12 (36.4%), home treatment 10 (30.3%), and herbal concoction 6 (18.2%) with majority 24 (72.7%) using more than one option. Antimalarial therapy was instituted in 25 (75.6%) of the cases. Mortality was significantly associated with the use of herbal concoction, treatment at a formal health facility and patent medicine seller, multiple convulsions, age less than 5 years, and noninstitution of antimalarial therapy before presentation. The study showed use of inappropriate health care options by caregivers and highlighted the need to pursue an awareness drive among caregivers on the use of health care options.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: In 2008, several Nigerian children developed acute kidney injury (AKI) after ingesting teething syrup contaminated with diethylene glycol (DEG). Because there are limited diagnostic facilities in resource-constrained countries, this study investigated whether AKI associated with DEG could be identified by other means. METHODS: This was a multicenter study. Information was obtained from hospital records. Clinicopathological features of all children with AKI over a 6-month period were reviewed. RESULTS: Sixty (50.4%) of 119 children ingested "My pikin" teething syrup. Compared to children who had not ingested it, they were significantly (p < 0.05) younger (11.95 vs. 31 months), more were anuric (98.3 vs. 74.6%), hypertensive (84 vs. 52%), had severe metabolic acidosis (46.7 vs. 20.5%), and died (96.6 vs. 71.2%). They developed increasing metabolic acidosis and multiorgan dysfunction despite peritoneal dialysis. Late presentation, financial difficulties, inadequate facilities for toxicology, and hemodialysis complicated management. CONCLUSIONS: Identifying AKI associated with DEG is difficult. Detailed drug history, increasing metabolic acidosis, and multiorgan deterioration despite peritoneal dialysis should arouse suspicion. Simple diagnostic tests need to be developed and facilities for hemodialysis of infants and financial support provided. Recurrences can be prevented by creating awareness, improving manufacturing practices, field-testing of drugs, and international monitoring of pharmaceuticals imported for manufacture.
