Magnitude of chronic osteomyelitis and its associated factors in children as diagnosed on X-ray visiting at Felege Hiwot Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study

Objectives: To assess the magnitude of chronic osteomyelitis and its associated factors in children at Felege Hiwot Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, in 2022. Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was done between April 15, 2022 and August 15, 2022, in children with an age of 18 years or below, who visited Felege Hiwot Comprehensive Specialized Hospital. A total sample size of 168 participants was involved in the study. The random sampling technique was applied to select the study participants. The data were collected from the patients, their charts, and X-ray requests. The data were cleaned, stored, checked for completeness, and entered into EpiData Version 3.1, which were then exported to SPSS Version 23 for analysis. Descriptive analysis was done, and bivariable and multivariable logistic regression were used for analysis. Results: The prevalence of chronic osteomyelitis was found to be 86.3%. The tibia and femur were the most commonly involved bones, and metaphyseal involvement was very common. The most common radiological findings were sequestrum (56%) and involucrum (53%). Of the total patients with radiological evidence of chronic osteomyelitis, 16.6% had complications, the most common of which was a pathologic fracture (12.4%). Being male (adjusted odds ratio = 6.162, 95% confidence interval: 1.12–34.147), being over 10 years old (adjusted odds ratio = 4.048, 95% confidence interval: 1.032–15.886), living in a rural area (adjusted odds ratio = 4.046, 95% confidence interval: 1.236–13.364), having a discharging sinus (adjusted odds ratio = 5.237, 95% confidence interval: 1.393–19.693), having a clinical complaint lasting more than 1 year (adjusted odds ratio = 5.189, 95% confidence interval: 1.247–21.588), and a preceding event of trauma (adjusted odds ratio = =10.363, 95% confidence interval: 1.101–97.509) were the factors associated with chronic osteomyelitis. Conclusion: The prevalence of chronic osteomyelitis is high. In this study, being male, being in the age group above 10 years, having rural residency, having a discharging sinus, having a clinical complaint duration of more than 1 year, and having a preceding event of trauma were the factors associated with chronic osteomyelitis. Therefore, healthcare providers should have a high index of suspicion of chronic osteomyelitis in older male children from rural areas with a chronic discharging sinus following trauma.