Rickets among children ≤ 5 years of age presenting with poor growth visiting a tertiary healthcare facility.

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of rickets among children ≤ 5 years of age presenting with poor growth visiting a tertiary care facility. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Pediatric Unit-2, Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur. Period: July 2021 to January 2022. Material & Methods: A total of 261 patients with poor growth and ≤5 years of either gender were included. A written consent was taken from the parents/guardian of all study participants after explaining them the nature of this study. All demographic data along with outcome variable (frequency of rickets) was noted on a predesigned proforma. Results: Mean age was 3.34 ± 1.41 years. Majority of the patients 136 (52.11%) were between 4 to 5 years of age. Out of the 261 patients, 153 (58.62%) were male and 108 (41.38%) were females with male to female ratio of 1.4:1. Mean sunlight exposure time was 25.67 ± 11.72 minutes/day. Mean age of start of weaning was 8.13 ± 4.33 months. Frequency of rickets among children ≤ 5 years of age presenting with poor growth was found in 18 (6.9%) patients. Conclusion: The frequency of rickets among children ≤ 5 years of age presenting with poor growth was high (6.9%).