Investigating the Causes of Hospitalization of Children under 15 Years Old during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Southern Iran

Children are the future of any community and identifying their pattern of diseases is a reflection of the health status of that region. This study was conducted to investigate the frequency of hospitalization causes in children under 15.

This cross-sectional study was performed among 360 children under 15 in the pediatric ward of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Jiroft in 2020. Data were collected by a pre-designed checklist according to the patients' files. Data were analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive statistics and a chi-square test.

The most common causes of hospitalization in both sexes were gastrointestinal disease (44.11%) and fever of unknown origin (FUO) (36.7%), and a significant relationship was observed between gender and the cause of hospitalization of children (P <0.001). In the age group of one month to one year, the most common cause of hospitalization was FUO (27%) followed by gastrointestinal diseases (25%). Otitis media (23%) was the most common cause of hospitalization in children aged 1 to 3 years, gastrointestinal diseases in children aged 3 to 6 years (16.4%) and 6 to 12 years (25%), respectively. There was also a statistically significant relationship between pediatric age and hospitalization causes (P <0.001).

Due to the high prevalence of diseases such as gastrointestinal diseases and FUO among the causes of hospitalization of children, epidemiological studies and the provision of preventative health services for said diseases in children seem necessary.