AGE database.

Acute gastroenteritis (AGE) is a common childhood disease, with a median of 2.5 diarrhoea episodes per child per year in both low- and middle-income countries. Morbidity and mortality from AGE result from a number of causes, including electrolyte abnormalities. This study characterized children hospitalized for AGE in Botswana with and without electrolyte abnormalities. This was a prospective observational study of children under the age of 13 years who were admitted with AGE in Princess Marina Hospital (PMH) and Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital (NRH) between May 2011 and April 2013. All children with serum electrolyte values obtained within 48 hours of admission were included. Patient characteristics and prevalence of electrolyte abnormalities were described. Risk factors for mortality were explored using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Among 544 patients, 37% had electrolyte abnormalities, namely hyponatraemia (9%), hypernatraemia (12%) and hypokalaemia (16%). Patients with hypernatraemia were younger (median age 6 months) compared to those with normal electrolytes (median age 9 months, p