Clinical and laboratory features associated with mortality in children with severe malnutrition in Papua New Guinea

Abstract

Background: The World Health Organization has a clinical and syndromic approach to the management of severe acute malnutrition which recognises that laboratory investigations are often not possible where children with severe malnutrition present. In low- and middle-income countries including Papua New Guinea, rates of death from severe malnutrition in many hospitals remain 10% or more. Aim: To evaluate the clinical predictors of death and the association between disturbances of electrolytes and haematological investigations in children with severe malnutrition and the risk of mortality. Methods: The clinical and laboratory predictors of death in a prospective cohort of 150 children with seve..