THE NUTRITIONAL STATUS IN CHILDREN UNDER 5 YEARS OLD WITH CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE TREATED AT THE PEDIATRIC CENTER, THAI NGUYEN NATIONAL HOSPITAL

Abstract

This study aims to assess the nutritional status and analyze some factors related to nutritional status in children with congenital heart disease. It is a cross-sectional descriptive study involving 81 children under 5 years old with congenital heart disease, conducted at the Pediatric Center, Thai Nguyen National Hospital from 2023 to 2024. The study subjects were patients under 5 years old diagnosed with congenital heart disease; who were weighed and measured height within 24 hours of admission to the hospital. The study results showed that the rate of malnutrition in children with congenital heart disease was 48.1%. Malnutrition was categorized into underweight, stunting, and wasting were 24.7%, 29.6%, and 25.9%, respectively; children age 2 months to 5 years old had a higher rate of malnutrition compared to children under 2 months old (73.3% vs 42.4%, p<0.05. Female children had a higher rate of malnutrition than male children (63.6% vs. 37.5%, p<0.05; female children had a higher rate of wasting malnutrition (42.4%) than male children (12.5%), p<0.01. Factors associated with malnutrition in children with congenital heart disease included a birth weight <2500 grams and female gender (p<0.05).