Epidemiology of Admissions in a Pediatric Emergency Department in Albert Royer Hospital Dakar

Background: Pediatric emergencies are a public health priority in Senegal. The objective was to describe the epidemiology of admissions to the emergency department of the Albert Royer National Children’s Hospital in Dakar, Senegal. Methods: Prospective, descriptive and analytical study over a period of 4 months (January-April 2020). The study population was children admitted for vital distress. Results: A total of 300 children met the inclusion criteria and represented the study population (2.83%). The majority (70.67%) were younger than 60 months, compared with 2.00% of newborns. Boys represented 53.8%, sex ratio 1.16. A proportion of 35.1% was referred. More than half of our patients (55.88%) were managed within 30 minutes of arrival. Medicalized transport concerned 21.5% against 78.5% of nonmedicalized. Emergencies were dominated by respiratory distress (56.33%), dehydration (29%) and shock (13.33%). We recorded 16 deaths (5.3%). This mortality was significantly related to the low socio-economic level (p = 0.000), as well as the young age of the children (p = 0.01). Conclusion: Life-threatening emergencies are frequent and responsible for significant lethality. Health policy efforts are still needed to reduce this infant and child morbidity and mortality.