Summary:
Background: Acute Bronchiolitis and pneumonia pose
significant morbidity and mortality of under five children.
This outcome is further influenced by poor nutritional status
of the affected child because of depressed immunity.
Objective: We sought to evaluate nutritional status of children
suffering from acute bronchiolitis and pneumonia in
Bangladesh.
Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in the
Department of Pediatrics of Dhaka Medical College Hospital
and Dhaka Shishu Hospital from July, 2010 to June, 2011.
A total of 50 patients of pneumonia aged 2-24 months and
50 patients of acute bronchiolitis of same age were enrolled
in this study according to case definitions. After enrolment,
the patients were thoroughly assessed with particular emphasis
on the anthropometric measurements. Weight, length, MUAC
and OFC were measured and recorded in a pretested semi
structured questionnaire. For each group Z score of weight
for age, weight for length, length for age, OFC and MUAC
were calculated. Z score +2 to -1 was defined as normal, -1 to
-2 z score as mild poor, -2 to -3 z score as moderate poor and
<-3 z score was defined as severe poor status. Results were
compared between pneumonia group and bronchiolitis
group by using calculated Z value. A calculated Z value
more than 1.96 was regarded significant (calculated z value
> 1.96 is equivalent to p value< 0.05).
Results: Children with pneumonia more often had severe
underweight (weight for age <-3 SD) (50% vs. 30%, p=
0.04), microcephaly (OFC <-3SD) (30% vs. 12%, p= 0.03),
and low MUAC (<115 mm) (40% vs. 10%, p= 0.03) compared
to those with bronchiolitis. Although, there was an increased
trend of severe wasting (weight for length <-3 SD) and severe
stunting (length for age <-3 SD) in children with pneumonia
compared to those with bronchiolitis, the difference was not
significant.
Conclusion: There thus, the overall nutritional status in
children having pneumonia was poor compared to those
with bronchiolitis. However, multicenter case control study
with larger sample is imperative to consolidate our
observation.
Key Words: Acute Bronchiolitis, pneumonia, Nutritional
Status.
(J Bangladesh Coll Phys Surg 2017; 35: 9-14)