Spectrum of Paediatric Endocrine Disorders in a Newly Established Endocrinology Unit in Southern Nigeria: A Decade Review

Abstract

Context: As global health has improved due to improving living standards, the nature and burden of endocrine disorders is also expanding with significant impact on public health. An Endocrine subspecialty was created at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Nigeria to cater for these supposed rare disorders that are on the increase but are beginning to contribute to morbidity and mortality among children and adolescents.

Objective: To retrospectively evaluate the epidemiological and clinical spectrum of endocrine disorders in a Nigerian tertiary hospital, with a view to delineating disease patterns, identifying gaps in diagnosis and management, and providing data to guide policy, resource allocation and clinical decision-making in a resource-limited setting.

Materials and Methods: A retrospective, descriptive cross sectional study was carried out by reviewing medical records of patients diagnosed with endocrine disorders at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria over a 13years period. Data on demographic characteristics, diagnosis, management modalities and outcomes were extracted and analyzed.

Endocrine disorders were classified using the International Classification of Paediatric Endocrine Diseases (ICPED) and statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 20 to identify patterns and associations using Chi-square test, with a significance level set at p < 0.05.

Results: A total of 232 (0.2%) patients had endocrine disorders among the 139,932 cases seen within the period in review. More females than males had endocrine disorders (females 124 [53.4%] and males 106 [45.8%]). Majority of the children with endocrine disorders were between the ages of 1-5 years (31.9%), followed by the age bracket of 6-10 years (28%). The median age of the children with endocrine disorders was 7.00 years (IQR 9.0) with age ranging from 5 days to 19 years. The four most common endocrine disorders seen in this review were disorders of energy balance (obesity) 47 (20.3%), calcium and phosphate metabolism (rickets) 43 (18.5%), pubertal disorders 42 (18.1%) and Glucose/lipids metabolism 32 (13.7%).

Conclusion: Pediatric endocrine disorders accounted for 0.2% of hospital visits in this resource-limited setting, with higher prevalence in females and children aged 1–5 years. The most common conditions were obesity, rickets, pubertal disorders, and glucose/lipid metabolism abnormalities. Improved diagnostic capacity, early identification, and targeted public health interventions are advocated to address the burden of endocrine disorders in low-resource settings.

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interest