Nutritional and oral health status of an elderly population in Nairobi

Objective: To determine the nutrition and oral health status of elderly persons in Nairobi, Kenya. Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting: Households in Dagoretti Division of Nairobi. Subjects: Two hundred and eighty nine persons (29.8% males and 70.2% females) aged 45 years and above were assessed. Results: The level of malnutrition using the mid upper arm circumference was 18.8% while by body mass index was 11.4%. Of the population assessed, 46.4% had normal nutritional status while 40.9% were overweight, with more females (48.0%) than males (25.9%) being overweight. The study established that many of the elderly persons suffered from dental problems, especially periodontitis with 89.9% having dental plaque, calculus 85.6%, gingival recession 82.5% and bleeding gums 77.4%. The decayed index missing and filled teeth, was 7.173 with 19.7% caries free, 51.9% reported tooth mobility and edentulousness was common. Conclusions: Under-nutrition, obesity and dental problems are issues of concern among the elderly. There is need to develop policies that will look into the nutrition and dental health of the elderly in order to improve their welfare.East African Medical Journal Vol. 85 (8) 2008: pp. 378-38

Dietary patterns and nutritional status of pre-school children in Nairobi

Objective: To determine the dietary patterns and nutritional status of pre-school children in Nairobi, Kenya.Design: A cross-sectional study.Setting: Pre-schools in Nairobi, Kenya.Subjects: Three hundred and four pre-school children (149 males and 155 females) aged three to five years were assessed.Results: About 96% of the children had been breastfed 46.7% of them for 12-24 months (46.7%), and the mean breastfeeding duration was 20.17 months. The most commonly consumed foods on a daily basis were fruits, vegetables bread, ugali, porridge and milk. The level of malnutrition was low with underweight at 16% stunting 4.3% and wasting 1.0%. The factors that positively correlated with child nutritional status were the age of the mother and father.Conclusions: The children were consuming a variety of foods both at home and in school, and this together with the high literacy levels the parents/guardians could have contributed towards the good nutritional status. East African Medical Journal Vol 82(10) 2005: 521-52

Maternal and neonatal outcomes after caesarean delivery in the African Surgical Outcomes Study: a 7-day prospective observational cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Maternal and neonatal mortality is high in Africa, but few large, prospective studies have been done to investigate the risk factors associated with these poor maternal and neonatal outcomes. METHODS: A 7-day, international, prospective, observational cohort study was done in patients having caesarean delivery in 183 hospitals across 22 countries in Africa. The inclusion criteria were all consecutive patients (aged ≥18 years) admitted to participating centres having elective and non-elective caesarean delivery during the 7-day study cohort period. To ensure a representative sample, each hospital had to provide data for 90% of the eligible patients during the recruitment week. The primary outcome was in-hospital maternal mortality and complications, which were assessed by local investigators. The study was registered on the South African National Health Research Database, number KZ_2015RP7_22, and on ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT03044899. FINDINGS: Between February, 2016, and May, 2016, 3792 patients were recruited from hospitals across Africa. 3685 were included in the postoperative complications analysis (107 missing data) and 3684 were included in the maternal mortality analysis (108 missing data). These hospitals had a combined number of specialist surgeons, obstetricians, and anaesthetists totalling 0·7 per 100 000 population (IQR 0·2-2·0). Maternal mortality was 20 (0·5%) of 3684 patients (95% CI 0·3-0·8). Complications occurred in 633 (17·4%) of 3636 mothers (16·2-18·6), which were predominantly severe intraoperative and postoperative bleeding (136 [3·8%] of 3612 mothers). Maternal mortality was independently associated with a preoperative presentation of placenta praevia, placental abruption, ruptured uterus, antepartum haemorrhage (odds ratio 4·47 [95% CI 1·46-13·65]), and perioperative severe obstetric haemorrhage (5·87 [1·99-17·34]) or anaesthesia complications (11·47 (1·20-109·20]). Neonatal mortality was 153 (4·4%) of 3506 infants (95% CI 3·7-5·0). INTERPRETATION: Maternal mortality after caesarean delivery in Africa is 50 times higher than that of high-income countries and is driven by peripartum haemorrhage and anaesthesia complications. Neonatal mortality is double the global average. Early identification and appropriate management of mothers at risk of peripartum haemorrhage might improve maternal and neonatal outcomes in Africa. FUNDING: Medical Research Council of South Africa.Medical Research Council of South Africa