Preventable but neglected: rickets in an informal settlement, Nairobi, Kenya
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Date
2014Author
Edwards, J. K
Thiongó, A
Bergh, Van den
Kizito, W
Kosgei, R J
Sobry, A
Vandenbulcke, A
Zuniga, I.
Reid, A J
Language
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Setting: The primary care clinics of Médecins Sans Frontières within the informal settlement of Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya.
Objective: To describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of children clinically diagnosed with rickets from September 2012 to October 2013.
Design: Descriptive retrospective case review of diagnosis and treatment course with vitamin D and calcium using routine programme data.
Results: Of the 82 children who met the clinical diagnosis of rickets, 57% were male, with a median age of 12 months and 14 months for females. Children with rickets were found to have ≥3 hours/week sunlight exposure for 71% of the children and malnutrition in 39%. Clinical findings on presentation revealed gross motor developmental delays in 44%. The loss to follow-up rate during treatment was 40%.
Conclusions: This study found that rickets is a common clinical presentation among children living in the informal settlement of Kibera and that there are likely multiple factors within that environment contributing to this condition. As rickets is a simply and inexpensively preventable non-communicable disease, we suggest that routine vitamin D supplementation be formally recommended by the World Health Organization for well-child care in Africa, especially in the contexts of informal settlements.
URI
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iuatld/pha/2014/00000004/00000002/art00013http://hdl.handle.net/11295/80833
Citation
Edwards JK, Thiongó A, den Bergh VR, Kizito W, Kosgei RJ, Sobry A, Vandenbulcke A, Zuniga I, Reid AJ. "Preventable but neglected: rickets in an informal settlement, Nairobi, Kenya." Public Health Action. 2014;4(2):122-127.Publisher
University of Nairobi
Collections
- Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) [10385]