INTRODUCTION:

It is recorded that most pediatric deaths are as a result of respiratory problems as compared to other causes worldwide. It is therefore of importance to establish a link between obstetrical factors and the development of such diseases.

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate and establish the link between respiratory diseases development and intrauterine factors while analyzing the antenatal anamnesis of pediatric patients in the Regional Pediatric Hospital in Ternopil.

STUDY DESIGN:

A qualitative study of 18 pediatric patients from two focus groups based on age separation: half of this population aged 2-5 and the other half 7-9 year olds. All were on admission from 21/01/2019 to 05/02/2019. The method of data collection was through questionnaires filled by the mothers of these patients. The information analyzed was grouped under the following factors; a) socio-economic b) obstetrical, c) the receipt of routine vaccinations during infancy, and d) the presence of allergies.

This abstract focuses mainly on the obstetrical factors of the patient’s mother during pregnancy of child under study.

The data collated was analyzed statistically using Microsoft Excel.

RESULTS:

We discovered that among all participants, the most common clinical diagnosis were pneumonia, bronchitis, bronchial asthma and a case of infectious exacerbation of Broncho-pulmonary dysplasia. Pneumonia was prevalent in the younger age group whereas bronchitis and bronchial asthma was prevalent in the older group.

In terms of obstetrical factors, all patients diagnosed with pneumonia and bronchial asthma were born at term whereas a fifth of those with bronchitis and the child with BPD were preterm. More than half of those with pneumonia, a half of those with bronchial asthma, and all patients with bronchitis had vaginal delivery. About 15% of these mothers had infections at birth and all the children from these mothers have had these current symptoms from birth.

CONCLUSION:

Upon analysis, it was concluded that in children particularly those aged 2-5 the most common respiratory disease is pneumonia. Bronchitis and bronchial asthma together are the second most commonly encountered diseases, mostly in older children between 7-9 years old. An obstetric link between BPD and pre-term delivery/caesarean section was found, while the other illnesses were prevalent among full term children born vaginally. A strong link was established between maternal infection and development of respiratory diseases in early days of life.