Outcome and Effectiveness of Inpatient Care of Malnourished under Five Children in District Hospitals of Mwanza Region, North Western Tanzania

Background: Malnutrition is a disease affecting commonly children from 0 to 5 years of age. In Tanzania it is still a problem with a prevalence of 36% and 28% mortality. Objective: This study aimed to compare the outcome and effectiveness of therapeutic regimes used by different district hospitals in the management of malnutrition of under five years old children in Mwanza Region. Methods: Patient charts were reviewed collecting social demographic attributes, diagnosis, type of therapeutic regimen given and treatment outcome. Results: The prevalence of malnutrition was found to be 30% with case fatality rate (CFR) of 8.8%, for the health facilities using WHO regime while 29% CFR for those using traditional regimen. The use of recommend malnutrition screening tests was generally poor. Conclusion: Malnutrition is still a public health problem with high mortality rate in Tanzania which is mainly caused by failure to use the WHO regimen. There is a need to use the available screening methods and recommended regimens to avert this.