Objective: To assess the prevalence of hypomagnesaemia and its co-occurrence with other diseases in children aged 6-60 months admitted to Children’s Hospital and Institute of Child Health, Multan (CH&ICH Multan).
Methodology: This prospective observational study was conducted in Nutrition Stabilization Center at Children’s Hospital and Institute of Child Health, Multan from May 2019 to January 2020. A total number of 384 malnourished children aged 6-60 months were included in the study. The nutritional status of children was accessed according to WHO criteria as weight for height or length <-3SD or mid upper arm circumference <11.5 cm and presence of severe signs of wasting and bilateral edema. For data analysis SPSS version 20 was used.
Results: Out of 384 children, 163(42.45%) had hypomagnesaemia. The mean age was 18.4±2.8. Male to female ratio was 1.21:1 with 96(58.89%) male and 67(41.11%) female had hypomagnesaemia. We found that 62(38.04%) hypomagnesaemia children belonged to age group 12-24 years. Most children, 121(31.51%) were aged 12-24 months and 282(73.44%) belonged to very poor socio-economic status.
Conclusion: Hypomagnesaemia was very common among hospitalized children which can cause many complications that increases the mortality rate and hospital stay.
Saadia Khan, Hassan Ali, Ibad Ali, Asad Abbas, Fahid Nazir, Abeeha Ajmal. (2021) Prevalence of hypomagnesaemia in children with severe acute malnutrition aged 6-60 months, , Volume-46, Issue-1.
