Recovery rate of sever acute malnutrition and its predictors among children admitted to therapeutic feeding unit in Northcentral Ethiopia

Abstract Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is the leading cause of hospital admissions and continues to be the leading cause of death in pediatric wards for children under five (25–30% of deaths), particularly in developing nations. Even if Ethiopia implements SAM treatment guidelines and protocols, t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gebrehiwot Berie Mekonnen, Wubet Tazeb Wondie, Bruck Tesfaye Legesse, Netsanet Melkamu Abera, Abere Gebru Abuhay, Gebrie Kassaw Yirga, Biruk Demissie, Melaku Tadege Engidaw
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-04-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-98582-z
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850042380793675776
author Gebrehiwot Berie Mekonnen
Wubet Tazeb Wondie
Bruck Tesfaye Legesse
Netsanet Melkamu Abera
Abere Gebru Abuhay
Gebrie Kassaw Yirga
Biruk Demissie
Melaku Tadege Engidaw
author_facet Gebrehiwot Berie Mekonnen
Wubet Tazeb Wondie
Bruck Tesfaye Legesse
Netsanet Melkamu Abera
Abere Gebru Abuhay
Gebrie Kassaw Yirga
Biruk Demissie
Melaku Tadege Engidaw
author_sort Gebrehiwot Berie Mekonnen
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is the leading cause of hospital admissions and continues to be the leading cause of death in pediatric wards for children under five (25–30% of deaths), particularly in developing nations. Even if Ethiopia implements SAM treatment guidelines and protocols, the study area needs to have up-to-date data on the recovery rate. This study aimed to assess the recovery rate of severe acute malnutrition and its determinants among under-five children admitted to a therapeutic feeding unit. An institution-based retrospective follow-up study was conducted admitted severely malnourished children from January 1, 2021 to December 30, 2022 in Debre Tabor Comprehensive Specialized Hospital. Data from all 209 study participants were collected using SAM registration logbooks and medical record charts with structured questionnaires. Data were entered into Epi Info version 7 and exported into SPSS version 25 for further analysis. The Kaplan–Meier curve and life table were used to describe the variable. To identify predictors, a Cox proportional hazard analysis was computed. The hazard ratio with a 95% CI was calculated, and a P-value of ≤ 0.05 was considered to declare statistical significance. A review of 209 records of children diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) was included in this study. Among these 75.1% recovered from SAM and the median survival time of recovery for children admitted in DTCSH was 15.42 days. Appetite status at admission and HIV status were significantly influenced recovery rates, with children showing poor appetite [Adjusted hazard ratio [AHR] 2.32, 95% CI 1.1–4.95] and HIV-positive status [AHR  2.55, 95% CI 1.001–6.5] at higher risk of delayed recovery rate. In this study, the overall nutritional recovery time was within an acceptable level of the Sphere standards. The main determinants of time to recovery in severely malnourished children were appetite status and HIV status during admission. Therefore, prompt checking of the appetite status of children and screening and intervention accordingly for their HIV status during admission are highly recommended for good nutritional recovery.
format Article
id doaj-art-8078bd46c7e5419da5571815afbf303a
institution DOAJ
issn 2045-2322
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series Scientific Reports
spelling doaj-art-8078bd46c7e5419da5571815afbf303a2025-08-20T02:55:35ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-04-0115111210.1038/s41598-025-98582-zRecovery rate of sever acute malnutrition and its predictors among children admitted to therapeutic feeding unit in Northcentral EthiopiaGebrehiwot Berie Mekonnen0Wubet Tazeb Wondie1Bruck Tesfaye Legesse2Netsanet Melkamu Abera3Abere Gebru Abuhay4Gebrie Kassaw Yirga5Biruk Demissie6Melaku Tadege Engidaw7Department of Pediatrics and Child Health Nursing, College of Health Sciences, Debre Tabor UniversityDepartment of Pediatrics and Child Health Nursing, College of Health Sciences and Referral Hospital, Ambo UniversityDepartment of Pediatrics and Neonatal Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Institutes of Health Science, Wollega UniversityDepartment of Nursing, College of Medicine and Health Science, Dire Dawa UniversityDepartment of Pediatrics and Child Health Nursing, College of Health Sciences, Debre Tabor UniversityDepartment of Adult Health Nursing, College of Medicine and Health Science, Debre Tabor UniversityDepartment of Environmental Health, College of Health Sciences, Debre Tabor UniversitySocial and Population Health Unit, College of Health Sciences, Debre Tabor UniversityAbstract Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is the leading cause of hospital admissions and continues to be the leading cause of death in pediatric wards for children under five (25–30% of deaths), particularly in developing nations. Even if Ethiopia implements SAM treatment guidelines and protocols, the study area needs to have up-to-date data on the recovery rate. This study aimed to assess the recovery rate of severe acute malnutrition and its determinants among under-five children admitted to a therapeutic feeding unit. An institution-based retrospective follow-up study was conducted admitted severely malnourished children from January 1, 2021 to December 30, 2022 in Debre Tabor Comprehensive Specialized Hospital. Data from all 209 study participants were collected using SAM registration logbooks and medical record charts with structured questionnaires. Data were entered into Epi Info version 7 and exported into SPSS version 25 for further analysis. The Kaplan–Meier curve and life table were used to describe the variable. To identify predictors, a Cox proportional hazard analysis was computed. The hazard ratio with a 95% CI was calculated, and a P-value of ≤ 0.05 was considered to declare statistical significance. A review of 209 records of children diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) was included in this study. Among these 75.1% recovered from SAM and the median survival time of recovery for children admitted in DTCSH was 15.42 days. Appetite status at admission and HIV status were significantly influenced recovery rates, with children showing poor appetite [Adjusted hazard ratio [AHR] 2.32, 95% CI 1.1–4.95] and HIV-positive status [AHR  2.55, 95% CI 1.001–6.5] at higher risk of delayed recovery rate. In this study, the overall nutritional recovery time was within an acceptable level of the Sphere standards. The main determinants of time to recovery in severely malnourished children were appetite status and HIV status during admission. Therefore, prompt checking of the appetite status of children and screening and intervention accordingly for their HIV status during admission are highly recommended for good nutritional recovery.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-98582-zPredictorsRecovery rateSevere acute malnutritionTherapeutic feeding unitUnder-five children
spellingShingle Gebrehiwot Berie Mekonnen
Wubet Tazeb Wondie
Bruck Tesfaye Legesse
Netsanet Melkamu Abera
Abere Gebru Abuhay
Gebrie Kassaw Yirga
Biruk Demissie
Melaku Tadege Engidaw
Recovery rate of sever acute malnutrition and its predictors among children admitted to therapeutic feeding unit in Northcentral Ethiopia
Scientific Reports
Predictors
Recovery rate
Severe acute malnutrition
Therapeutic feeding unit
Under-five children
title Recovery rate of sever acute malnutrition and its predictors among children admitted to therapeutic feeding unit in Northcentral Ethiopia
title_full Recovery rate of sever acute malnutrition and its predictors among children admitted to therapeutic feeding unit in Northcentral Ethiopia
title_fullStr Recovery rate of sever acute malnutrition and its predictors among children admitted to therapeutic feeding unit in Northcentral Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Recovery rate of sever acute malnutrition and its predictors among children admitted to therapeutic feeding unit in Northcentral Ethiopia
title_short Recovery rate of sever acute malnutrition and its predictors among children admitted to therapeutic feeding unit in Northcentral Ethiopia
title_sort recovery rate of sever acute malnutrition and its predictors among children admitted to therapeutic feeding unit in northcentral ethiopia
topic Predictors
Recovery rate
Severe acute malnutrition
Therapeutic feeding unit
Under-five children
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-98582-z
work_keys_str_mv AT gebrehiwotberiemekonnen recoveryrateofseveracutemalnutritionanditspredictorsamongchildrenadmittedtotherapeuticfeedingunitinnorthcentralethiopia
AT wubettazebwondie recoveryrateofseveracutemalnutritionanditspredictorsamongchildrenadmittedtotherapeuticfeedingunitinnorthcentralethiopia
AT brucktesfayelegesse recoveryrateofseveracutemalnutritionanditspredictorsamongchildrenadmittedtotherapeuticfeedingunitinnorthcentralethiopia
AT netsanetmelkamuabera recoveryrateofseveracutemalnutritionanditspredictorsamongchildrenadmittedtotherapeuticfeedingunitinnorthcentralethiopia
AT aberegebruabuhay recoveryrateofseveracutemalnutritionanditspredictorsamongchildrenadmittedtotherapeuticfeedingunitinnorthcentralethiopia
AT gebriekassawyirga recoveryrateofseveracutemalnutritionanditspredictorsamongchildrenadmittedtotherapeuticfeedingunitinnorthcentralethiopia
AT birukdemissie recoveryrateofseveracutemalnutritionanditspredictorsamongchildrenadmittedtotherapeuticfeedingunitinnorthcentralethiopia
AT melakutadegeengidaw recoveryrateofseveracutemalnutritionanditspredictorsamongchildrenadmittedtotherapeuticfeedingunitinnorthcentralethiopia