Current Pediatric Research

Background: Three devastating earthquakes hit North Lombok within 28 days in 2018. The lack of disaster preparedness system in North Lombok contributes to the challenges in providing sufficient healthcare. This study aims to describe the disease that are diagnosed in the pediatric population at North Lombok Field Hospital during 28 days after the first earthquake.

Method: The study uses prospective observational study of pediatric population presenting to a field hospital in North Lombok for a period of 28 days after the earthquake on August 5, 2018. Demographic and clinical information were prospectively recorded for all patients in a systematic emergency registry and nutritional status was assessed on weight for age.

Results: Eight hundred and thirty-six children were admitted to the field hospital for 28 days. Children younger than six years old were the highest proportion (52%). From 836 children were male (54%) and had normal nutritional status (72%) and 96 children (11%) had severely wasting. Fifty-six children were diagnosed with physical trauma and four of them died from multiple trauma. In the first and second week, respiratory tract infection was found to be the most frequent to occur among the children. Meanwhile, gastrointestinal tract infection was identified to be the most frequent disease in the third and fourth week. This study found there is no correlation between age, sex, nutritional status and frequent disease in children after earthquake (q>0.005).

Conclusion: Respiration and gastrointestinal tract infections are the most frequent-occurring diseases among children at North Lombok Field Hospital after earthquakes.

Author(s): Melissa Ronaldi, Ida Bagus Gde Suwibawa, Kurniawan Taufiq Kadafi, Nurhandini Eka Dewi, Jaya Ariheryanto Effendi, Aman B Pulungan

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