Impact of Pharmacist Provided Counselling to the Parents of Malnutrition Children at Government District Hospital, Kalaburagi, Karnataka

Aim To assess the nutrition adherence among malnutrition children. To assess the improvement in weight of malnutrition children. Methods A prospective interventional study was conducted among 98 children for 6 months who were admitted in the District Government Hospital, Gulbarga. Mothers of the children were interviewed and followed by an anthropometric and a clinical examination of the children which includes measuring the patients length, height, weight according to the standards given by the WHO (World Health Organisation) and MUAC using mid upper arm circumference strip based on the results the childs severity of the SAM is determined. The variables studied were age, gender, region, relation between gender and grade, month wise cases collected, comparison of male and female based on month, co-morbidities, relation between co-morbidities and gender, socio-economic status, medical illness in the past months, birth order, breast feeding, immunization status, dietary intake and anthropometric measurements were conducted on malnourished children. . Results It was found that out of 98 patients, 42 were male, 56 were female, 65 were from Gulbarga and 33 were from other villages. According to grades 3SD and 4SD are more compared to other grades. Among co-morbidities GE and LRTI were found in large numbers compared to other diseases. Conculsion Pharmacists plays a vital role, in our study it clearly suggests that pharmacists counselling to the parents of malnutrition children had improved the child health status than before counselling. Out of 98 undernourished children, 40 children had improved their health status after counselling. So pharmacist plays a vital role in improving the childs nutritional status and health.