Predictors of hypoglycemia among children admitted in the Emergency Pediatric Unit of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri, Nigeria

Article Figures & Data

Download figure
Open in new tab
Download powerpoint
Figure 1
- Blood glucose category of the study subjects.

Table 1

- Association between hypoglycemia and sociodemographic factors, nutritional status, and duration since last meal.

Variable	n	Hypoglycemia		X²	P-value
Variable	n	Absent n (%)	Present n (%)	X²	P-value
Age
<5 years	226	190 (84.1)	36 (15.9)	6.161	0.046*
5-<10	58	44 (75.9)	14 (24.1)
10-15	56	52 (92.9)	4 (7.1)
Gender
Male	206	179(86.9)	27(13.1)	3.014	0.083
Female	134	107 (79.9)	27(20.1)
Socioeconomic class
Low	222	178 (80.2)	44 (19.8)	7.899	0.017^
Middle	93	84 (90.3)	9 (9.7)
High	25	24 (96.0)	1 (4.0)
Weight-for-age
Normal	175	151 (86.3)	24 (13.7)	6.505	0.039*
Moderate underweight	49	45 (91.8)	4 (8.2)
Severe underweight	116	90 (77.6)	26 (22.4)
Height-for-age
Normal	255	213 (83.5)	42 (16.5)	3.998	0.136
Moderate stunting	37	35 (94.6)	2 (5.4)
Severe stunting	48	38 (79.2)	10 (19.8)
Duration since last meal
<8 hours (h)	127	120 (94.5)	7 (5.5)	72.30	0.001
8- <16 h	95	90 (94.7)	5 (5.3)
16-24 h	96	67 (72.0)	26 (28.0)
>24 h	25	9 (36.0)	16 (64.0)

Table 2

- Relationship between clinical features and hypoglycemia.

Table 3

- Relationship between hypoglycemia and clinical diagnosis.

Diagnoses	n	Absent n (%)	Present n (%)	X²	P-value
Severe malaria	42	24 (57.1)	18 (42.9)	26.099	0.001
Pneumonia	51	45 (88.2)	6 (11.8)	0.761	0.383
Diarrheal disease	26	23 (88.5)	3 (11.5)	0.398	0.597
Enteric fever	18	18 (100.0)	0 (0.0)	3.589	0.089
Meningitis	9	7 (77.8)	2 (22.2)	0.278	0.639
Febrile convulsion	19	18 (94.7)	1 (5.3)	1.699	0.226
SAM	53	40 (75.5)	13 (24.5)	3.513	0.061
Surgical cases	30	24 (80.0)	6 (20.0)	0.418	0.518
Severe sepsis	9	6 (66.7)	3 (33.3)	2.107	0.158
Sickle cell crisis	21	21 (100.0)	0 (0.0)	4.226	0.033
UTI	15	15 (100.0)	0 (0.0)	2.963	0.142
Pharyngotonsilitis	17	15 (88.2)	2 (11.8)	0.227	0.475
Others	30	30 (100.0)	0 (0.0)	6.212	0.007

UTI: urinary tract infections, SAM: severe acute malnutrition

Table 4

- Multiple regression for factors associated with hypoglycemia.

Variables		Total enrolled	Hypoglycemia n=58	Odds ratio (95% CI)	P-value
Age
<5 years		226	36 (15.9)	6.218 (1.077-35.912)
5-< 10 year		58	14 (24.1)	5.730 (0.889-34.702)	0.041^*
10-15 years		56	4 (7.1)	1	0.057
Social status
Low		222	44 (19.8)	3.191 (0.226-44.967)
Middle		93	9 (9.7)	3.179 (0.198-50.996)	0.390
High		25	1 (4.0)	1	0.414
Weight-for-age
Normal		175	24 (13.7)	1
Moderate underweight		49	4 (8.2)	0.530 (0.100-2.811)	0.456
Severe underweight		116	26 (22.4)	3.692 (1.266-10.971)	0.017^*
Duration since last meal
<8 h		127	7 (5.1)	1
8- <16 h		95	5 (5.3)	0.668 (0.152-2.945)	0.594
16-24 h		93	26 (28.3)	5.696 (1.768-18.352)	0.004^*
>24 h		25	16 (64.0)	30.279(5.569164.633)	<0.001^*
Abdominal distension	Yes	65	20 (30.8)	2.863 (0.948—8.649)	0.062
Abdominal distension	no	275	34 (12.4)	1	0.062
Anorexia	Yes	244	48 (19.7)	1.096 (0.338-3.560)	0.876
Anorexia	no	96	6 (6.3)	1	0.876
Diarrhea	yes	173	35 (64.8)	1.303 (0.492-3.451)	0.594
Diarrhea	no	167	19 (11.4)	1	0.594
Convulsions	Yes	92	27 (29.3)	1.472 (0.505-4.288)	0.478
Convulsions	no	248	27 (10.7)	1	0.478
Weakness	yes	196	50 (25.5)	6.556 (1.730-24.850)	0.006^*
Weakness	no	144	4 (2.8)	1	0.006^*
Coma	yes	62	34 (54.8)	9.479 (3.092-29.059)	<0.001^*
Coma	no	278	20 (7.2)	1	<0.001^*
Dehydration	yes	44	15 (34.1)	0.483 (0.113-2.070)	0.327
Dehydration	no	296	39(13.2)	1	0.327
Tachypnea	yes	226	43 (19.0)	1.294 (0.469--3.570)	0.619
Tachypnea	no	114	11 (9.6)	1	0.619
Severe malaria	yes	42	18 (42.9)	2.720 (0.554-13.365)	0.021^*
Severe malaria	no	298	36 (12.1)	1	0.021^*