Portrait of Outpatient Visits and Hospitalizations for Acute Infections in Nunavik Preschool Children
OBJECTIVE: Inuit children from around the world are burdened by a high rate of infectious diseases. The objective of this study was to evaluate the incidence rate of infections in Inuit preschool children from Nunavik (Northern Québec). METHODS: The medical chart of 354 children from a previously re...
| Published in: | Canadian Journal of Public Health |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Springer International Publishing
2006
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6975800/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17120873 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03405343 |
| Summary: | OBJECTIVE: Inuit children from around the world are burdened by a high rate of infectious diseases. The objective of this study was to evaluate the incidence rate of infections in Inuit preschool children from Nunavik (Northern Québec). METHODS: The medical chart of 354 children from a previously recruited cohort was reviewed for the first five years of life. All outpatient visits that led to a diagnosis of acute infection and all admissions for acute infections were recorded. RESULTS: Rates of outpatient visits for acute otitis media (AOM) were 2314, 2300, and 732 events/1000 child-years for children 0–11 months, 12–23 months, and 2–4 years, respectively. Rates of outpatient visits for lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) were 1385, 930, and 328 events/1000 child-years, respectively. Rates of hospitalization for pneumonia were 198, 119, and 31 events/1000 child-years, respectively. CONCLUSION: Inuit children from Nunavik have high rates of AOM and LRTI. Such rates were higher than that of other non-native North-American populations previously published. Admission for LRTI is up to 10 times more frequent in Nunavik compared to other Canadian populations. |
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