A Hospital Based Cross Sectional study on Prevalence of Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) in under five children of Lucknow District

Dr. Dinesh Chandra Pandey; Dr. Jaigam Abbas; Dr. Anand Kr Agrawal

Volume : IV, Issue : IX, September - 2015

A Hospital Based Cross Sectional study on Prevalence of Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) in under five children of Lucknow District

Dr. Dinesh Chandra Pandey, Dr. Jaigam Abbas, Dr. Anand Kr Agrawal

Abstract :

Background: Childhood ARI/pneumonia is a significant public health problem in India, although robust epidemiological data is not available on its incidence. On an average, children below 5 years of age suffer about 5 episodes of ARI per child per year, thus accounting for about 238 million attacks and about 13 million deaths every year in the world. Identification of modifiable risk factors of ARI may help in reducing the burden of disease. Objectives: To study the social demographic factors and prevalence of ARI in under five children living in urban and rural areas of Lucknow district. Material and Methods: It was a cross sectional study covering 300 under–five children living in urban and rural area of Lucknow district from December 2014 to May 2015(6months). Results: Prevalence of ARI was found to be 46.67%. Out of 300 children 140 had one or more episode of ARI. The sex wise distribution of ARI cases was slightly higher in males with 54.28% males and 45.71% females. It was higher in children with lower socioeconomic status (35.70%), illiterate mother (46.4%), overcrowded conditions (85.71%), inadequate ventilation (82.14%), and use of smoky chullah (71.42%), malnutrition (28.57%) and parental smoking (78.57%). Conclusion: The present study found that low socioeconomic status, maternal illiteracy, poor nutritional status, overcrowding, indoor air pollution and parental smoking behavior were the significant social and demographic risk factors responsible for ARI in under–five children. These observations emphasize the need for research aimed at health system to determine the most appropriate approaches to control acute respiratory infection and thus could be utilized to strengthen the ARI control programme.