Toutem Shraddha, Singh Vanya, Ganguly Enakshi
Department of Community Medicine, Mediciti Institute of Medical Sciences, Medchal Mandal, Telangana, India.
Int J Contemp Pediatrics. 2018 Sep-Oct;5(5):1947-1951. doi: 10.18203/2349-3291.ijcp20183537.
Orphan children globally and in India are increasing. Magnitude of their health problems is unknown. The present study was carried out to assess the morbidity pattern of orphan children aged 10-16 years, assess their knowledge about signs and symptoms of common childhood morbidities and treatment-seeking practices.
One hundred institutionalized orphan children aged 10-16 years were studied for 6 months. Data was collected by trained investigators regarding sociodemographic background, awareness about common morbidities and treatment seeking practices. Thorough clinical examination and anthropometric measurements were done. Distribution of morbidities was shown.
80% of the boys and 68% of the girls had low BMI. 78% suffered from multiple morbidities of which 76% had infections of skin and appendages while 74% had ear problems. 26% had diarrhea and 21% had B-complex deficiency. The mean duration of all diseases was 7±1.1 days. Awareness about diseases and their complications was low; and self-care was highly prevalent for most health problems.
Orphan children in South India suffer from many morbidities about which their awareness and treatment seeking is low.
全球及印度的孤儿数量都在增加。他们健康问题的严重程度尚不清楚。本研究旨在评估10至16岁孤儿的发病模式，评估他们对常见儿童疾病症状及就医行为的认知。
对100名10至16岁的机构收养孤儿进行了为期6个月的研究。由经过培训的调查人员收集有关社会人口背景、对常见疾病的认知及就医行为的数据。进行了全面的临床检查和人体测量。展示了疾病的分布情况。
80%的男孩和68%的女孩体重指数较低。78%患有多种疾病，其中76%有皮肤及附属器感染，74%有耳部问题。26%有腹泻，21%有复合维生素B缺乏。所有疾病的平均病程为7±1.1天。对疾病及其并发症的认知较低；大多数健康问题的自我护理情况很普遍。
印度南部的孤儿患有多种疾病，他们对这些疾病的认知和就医率较低。
