Assessment of the prevalence and associated risk factors of pediatric hydrocephalus in diagnostic centers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Hydrocephalus (HCP) is a common disorder of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) physiology resulting in abnormal expansion of the cerebral ventricles. Infants commonly present with progressive macrocephaly whereas children older than 2 years generally present with signs and symptoms of intracranial hypertension. Neither qualitatively nor quantitatively are there adequate data to determine the prevalence and incidence of HCP in the developing world. HCP is a treatable condition that when left untreated, has fatal consequences. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of pediatric HCP and associated risk factors in diagnostic centers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This study was conducted using a cross-sectional facility-based study design over a two-time period, i.e. a 2-year retrospective data collection from January 2018 to January 2020 included 1101 patients and a prospective data collection from May 2019 to February 2020 included 99 patients. Children aged 5 years and below who came to the selected diagnostic centers for MRI/CT examination were studied. The collected data were analyzed using binary logistic regression. The retrospective study included 639(58%) males and 462 (42%) females. The mean age calculated was 22.3 months. Infants aged younger than 24 months 753 (68.4%) were significantly associated with HCP development (P