The pediatric disease spectrum in XXXX across Pakistan: data from a pilot surveillance system.

@entity1 @entity341 @entity221 @entity344
BACKGROUND: There is an increasing number of urgently ill and injured @entity1 being seen in @entity341 ( @entity341 ) of developing countries. The pediatric disease burden in EDs across Pakistan is generally unknown. Our main objective was to determine the spectrum of disease and injury among @entity1 seen in EDs in Pakistan through a nationwide @entity341 -based surveillance system. METHODS: Through the Pakistan National Emergency Department Surveillance (Pak-NEDS), data were collected from November 2010 to March 2011 in seven major tertiary care centers representing all provinces of Pakistan. These included five public and two private hospitals, with a collective annual census of over one million @entity341 encounters. RESULTS: Of 25,052 @entity1 registered in Pak-NEDS (10% of all @entity1 seen): 61% were male, 13% under 5 years, while almost 65% were between 10 to < 16 years. The majority (90%) were seen in public hospital EDs. About half the @entity1 were discharged from the EDs, 9% admitted to hospitals and only 1.3% died in the EDs. Injury (39%) was the most common presenting complaint, followed by @entity221 (19%) and @entity344 (18%). Injury was more likely in males vs. females (43% vs. 33%; p < 0.001), with a peak presentation in the 5-12 year age group (45%). CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric @entity1 constitute a smaller proportion among general @entity341 users in Pakistan. Injury is the most common presenting complaint for @entity1 seen in the @entity341 . These data will help in resource allocation for cost effective pediatric @entity341 service delivery systems. Prospective longer duration surveillance is needed in more representative pediatric EDs across Pakistan.
