Running head: PEDIATRIC PATIENTS 1
Pediatric Patients
The research study by Rusmawatiningtyas (2018) aimed to find the correlation between vitamin D levels with severity of sepsis in patients admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). The study was done at Dr. Sardjito General Hospital, and a total of 297 pediatric patients with sepsis were involved in the 8-month study. The researcher collected blood samples for 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH) D] concentration within the first 24 hours of admission to the PICU. Other information gathered included pediatric logistic organ dysfunction (PELOD), length of stay and mortality. The study concluded that PICU mortality was high in patients with 25(OH)D deficiency, but there were no significant differences in comparison with groups with insufficient or normal levels of 25(OH)D. The group with the normal level of 25(OH)D had highest PELOD score and lowest mortality. The study concluded that vitamin D deficiency is related to pediatric sepsis for patients admitted in the PICU.
The study has nursing implications. The study concluded that PICU mortality was high in patients with vitamin D deficiency (30.44%). The study supports the recent investigations that found out that hypovitaminosis D is common in critically ill children. This information will help nurses know how to act when dealing with pediatric patients with sepsis.
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The study was done in Yogyakarta, and the prevalence of pediatric vitamin D deficiency in Yogyakarta was at 63.5%, which is higher than vitamin D deficiency in most regions. The probable cause for the high vitamin D deficiency is poor consumption of food that contains vitamin D such as liver, beef, eggs, and salmon. Nurses and other healthcare professionals have to educate parents and the community in general on the risks of vitamin D deficiency and how to improve vitamin D intake in their children. Vitamin D deficiency in children increases mortality risk score, length of stay, and it can affect them until adulthood.
Reference
Rusmawatiningtyas, D. (2018). Vitamin D deficiency and outcome of patients with sepsis in pediatric intensive care unit: a prospective observational study. Critical Care & Shock , 21 (2).
