Blood Glucose Levels in Pediatric Emergency Admissions in Jimma University Specialized Hospital, Southwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Abnormal blood glucose level is one of the problems encountered in children with
severe illness. Different studies showed that hypoglycemia is associated with poor prognosis in many
severe childhood illnesses especially in sub-Saharan Africa where the prevalence of malaria, diarrhea
and malnutrition remains high. To the best of our knowledge there has not been any published work on
this subject in Ethiopia; as a result abnormal blood glucose level in pediatric emergency admissions has
not received enough attention.
Objective: To determine the pattern of blood glucose levels in pediatric emergency admissions.
Methodology: The study was conducted at pediatrics Emergency unit of the Jimma University
Specialized Hospital, Oromia region,Southwest Ethiopia from May13, 2011 – June 12, 2011.
The study design was a prospective cross-sectional and all nondiabetic children aged between 1 month to
14 years who were admitted to the emergency unit during the study period were included. Data was
collected by trained medical person using structured questionnaire and by determining random blood
glucose. After cleaning and coding, the data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences
(SPSS) windows version 16.0. Relevant test of statistical association was employed.
Result: Six percent of children admitted to Jimma University specialized hospital had an abnormal
blood glucose level on admission. Hyperglycemia (4.8%) was more common than hypoglycaemia (1.2%).
However, there was a strong association between hypoglycaemia and mortality. Hypoglycemic children
with severe illness or malnutrition were having impaired mentation, and died despite an urgent
determination of blood glucose and treatment.
Conclusion: Hypoglycemia is less common as compared to hyperglycemia in pediatric
emergency admissions to Jimma University specialized hospital but it was associated with worst
outcome of management