ஐ.எஸ்.எஸ்.என்: 2572-0775
Tesfaye Hurisa, Hirut Megersa, Tigist Tsegaye
Background: Delay in diagnosis of congenital heart disease (CHD) causes significant morbidity and mortality. However, screening of neonates at birth enables early identification of CHD and decreases complications related to delay diagnosis. Research that investigates the magnitude of delay diagnosis of congenital heart disease was enable stakeholders to plan a targeted awareness-creation on screening practices for early detection of congenital heart disease.
Objectives: To assess delay in diagnosis of congenital heart disease and associated factors among pediatrics patients who were registered in Cardiac Center Ethiopia from January 1, 2018, to December 30, 2020.
Methods: A retrospective institutional-based cross-sectional study design was used in the cardiac center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A total of two hundred sixteen registered pediatrics congenital heart disease patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were included in this study. The data was entered into Epi-data version 7.2.2.6, cleaned, and exported to SPSS version 24 for analysis. Variable having a p-value<0.25 was a candidate for multivariable analysis. Then multivariable analysis was performed to determine the associated of independent factors of the dependent variable. Statistical significance was considered at p-values<0.05 and Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) at 95% confidence interval (95% CI).
Results: In this study 216 children were included, of total study subjects, 83 (38.4%) were male and 133(61.6%) were female, 85 (39.4%) of children were aged from 12 month to 5 year of age. Delayed diagnosis of CHD was noticed in 206 (95.4%) children. In multivariable logistic regression analysis, Maternal education those who had illiterate [AOR=0.135 (95% CI=(0.025-0.715)]. Place of child delivery, Hospital [AOR=0.057 (95% CI=(0.005-0.643)] and gestational age in weeks during delivery preterm baby [AOR=0.110 (95% CI (0.017-0.723)] are significant factors.
Conclusion: Maternal education, place of child delivery and gestational age were independently associated with the delay diagnosis of congenital heart disease. Repeated history of respiratory tract infection was also seen as complication. Improving the basic socioeconomic indicators and establishing a proper screening and referral healthcare delivery system are helpful.