Document Type : Research articles
Authors
1
Demonstrator Pediatric Nursing department, Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University, Egypt.
2
Professor Emeritus , Pediatric Nursing department, Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University, Egypt.
3
Professor Pediatrics Department, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Egypt.
4
Lecturer of Nutrition Department of Nutrition, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Egypt.
5
Lecturer in Pediatric Nursing Pediatric Nursing department, Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University, Egypt.
Abstract
care units with critical illnesses. These children are mainly admitted with malnutrition
exacerbated through their hospitalization. Malnutrition stands out for its clinical importance and
is associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Consequently, it needs to be detected as
early as possible Aim: This study aimed to identify the nutritional status of under -five years
critically ill children in Pediatric Intensive Care Units. Design: A longitudinal descriptive
research design was used. Setting: This study was conducted at Pediatric Intensive Care Units of
Alexandria University Children's Hospital at El-Shatby and Smouha, and El-Raml Children's
Hospital (Winget), Alexandria, Egypt. Subjects: A convenient sample of 120 under-five years
critically ill children who were recently admitted to PICUs within the first 24 hours. Tools: Two
tools were used to collect the necessary data which are characteristics and clinical data of
critically ill children record, and nutritional assessment of critically ill children’s assessment
record. Nutritional assessment was done within 24 hours of admissions, after one week and two
weeks of hospitalization. Results: The study findings revealed that nearly one-third of children
(32.5%) categorized as severely underweight at PICU admission and after one week, while this
percentage increased to slightly less than half of them (48.3%) after two weeks from their PICU
hospitalization. Additionally, it was recorded that 76.7% of the children had anemia on admission
and slightly decreased to 63.9% and 72.3% after one week and after two weeks of their PICU
hospitalization, respectively. Moreover, hyperproteinemia was detected among 42.9 % of the
children at their PICU admission. On the other hand, it was recorded that 59% and 60.7% had
hypoproteinemia after one week and two weeks of hospitalization, respectively. It was observed
that some clinical findings were associated with nutritional inadequacies among most critically ill
children at admission, after one week and after two weeks of PICU stay namely dry and thin hair,
skin pallor and dry conjunctiva. Conclusion: It can be concluded that nutritional status of underfive
years critically ill children was affected on PICU admission and worsened during their
hospitalization. Recommendations: It is recommended continuous assessment and monitoring
nutritional status of under-five years critically ill children from PICU admission and throughout
their hospitalization for early detection of malnutrition and proper nutritional management.
Keywords
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