Morais MA, Piñeiro FE, Santana PS

Language: Spanish
References: 0
Page: 321-337
PDF size: 445.94 Kb.

ABSTRACT

Rationale: Acute diarrhea is a cause for weight loss in the child during hospitalization due to metabolic stress it produces. It is not known what might be the impact of acute diarrhea upon the child´s body weight during hospitalization. Objective: To document change upon body weight in children with acute diarrhea during admission in a service specialized in diagnosis and treatment of digestive diseases. Study location: Service of Digestive Diseases, “Juan Manuel Márquez” Pediatric Hospital (Havana City, Cuba). Study design: Prospective, longitudinal, analytical with two cuts: the first on admission and the second on discharge. Study serie: Sixty children (Boys: 51.7%) with ages between 1 month and 5 years assisted in the hospital between the 2015 – 2016 years participated in the study. Material and method: Body weight was obtained from the child in the two moments of hospitalization. Change occured in body weight was adjusted regarding sex, age, food scheme during admission, and hospital length of stay. Results: In 51 patients (85.0% of the study serie) occured weight loss during hospitalization. Weight loss amounted to 8.0% of body weight recorded on admission. Lower ages and prolonged length of stay associated with higher weight losses. Conclusions: Acute diarrhea represents an important cause of weight loss during child´s hospitalization. Children with lower ages and/or prolonged hospital length of stay might suffer greatest weight losses due to diarrhea.