THE PREVALENCE OF EAR, NOSE AND THROAT
DISORDERS IN VIETNAMESE PEDIATRIC PATIENTS
1 | Ho Chi Minh City 70000, Vietnam |
Online publication date: 2018-05-25
Publication date: 2018-05-25
Eurasian J Anal Chem 2018;13(3):emEJAC04046
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
Objective: To determine the prevalence of ear, nose and throat (ENT) disorders among pediatric
patients in the context of Vietnam.
Methods: The research process was conducted in the form of a cross-sectional study. Conducted in
the months of April and May 2018, the investigation relied on rural and urban-based public
hospitals in the Vietnamese context. The inclusion criterion was set in such a way that the selected
hospitals were expected to be pediatric healthcare organizations. Also, the organizations were
expected to be public institutions that had served communities for a significant period of at least
five years - preceding the time of the study.
Results: Findings demonstrated that there is an increasing trend in ENT disorders among pediatric
patients in the country, with the majority of this study’s participants constituting school going
children. From the results, the number of male participants exceeded that of female participants
diagnosed with ENT diseases – but the difference was not statistically significant. In particular, the
study’s findings demonstrated that the most common ENT diagnosis was ear wax, with 17.3% of the
selected pediatric patients in the Vietnamese context found to have been diagnosed with the health
condition. In ascending order, other conditions that followed ear wax as a major ENT problem
facing pediatric patients in Vietnam involved OME and CSOM-TT.
Conclusion: From this study’s observations, some of the strategies that are recommended include
timely referrals through community sensitization or mass education at the community and national
levels, the implementation of programs seeking to improve the socioeconomic status of the affected
families or communities (hence increased access to healthcare services), public awareness about
the availability of pediatric healthcare services targeting ENT disorders (and the availability of
specialist doctors), conducting regular screening programs that target children in urban and rural
communities, and the provision of regular and subsidized school health services.
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