• Callistus Oa Enyuma, Maxwell U Anah, Amelia Pousson, G Olorunfemi, L Ibisomi, B E Abang, and E J Imoke.
• Division of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
• Afr Health Sci. 2019 Jun 1; 19 (2): 191019231910-1923.

BackgroundThere is a high prevalence of paediatric emergency cases in less developed countries. However, prolonged hospital stay at emergency units may further overstretch the facilities.ObjectiveTo assess the patterns of presentations, services offered and predictors of a prolonged stay at the Children Emergency Room of a tertiary hospital in Southern Nigeria.MethodsThis prospective cross-sectional, study was conducted at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Nigeria from 1st January-31st December 2014. Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of consecutively recruited children (n=633) were recorded in a proforma. Binary logistic regression was conducted to determine predictors of prolonged stay (>72 hours).ResultThe median age of participants was 2 (1 - 4.6) years. Three-fifths of children were admitted at off-hours and the commonest symptom was fever (73.9%). About 16.4% (95%CI:13.6% - 19.4%, n= 103/633) of the children had prolonged stay while those with sepsis had the longest mean stay (65.5±72.1 hours). Children admitted on account of Sickle cell disease (OR:11.2, 95%CI:1.3-95.1, P-value = 0.03), Malaria (OR:10.7, 95%CI:1.4-82.5, P-value = 0.02) or sepsis (OR:10.5, 95%CI:1.3 - 82.7, P-value = 0.03) had higher odds of prolonged hospital stay. There was no significant difference in hospital stay among children admitted by the consultant as compared to other health personnel (P-value = 0.08).ConclusionPrevention and proper management of Sickle cell disease and malaria reduces paediatric hospital stay in our environment. Paediatric emergency medicine should be re-organized to cater for high volume of off-hour admissions.© 2019 Enyuma et al.

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