Factors associated with severe childhood community-acquired pneumonia: a retrospective study from two hospitals

Abstract

Background Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is the leading cause of death in children globally. Indonesia is ranked 1st in South East Asia with the highest burden of pneumonia. Identification of risk factors is necessary for early intervention and better management. This study intended to describe CAP’s clinical signs and laboratory findings and explore the risk factors of severe CAP among children in Indonesia. Methods This was a retrospective study of childhood hospitalizations in Siloam General Hospitals and Siloam Hospitals Lippo Village from December 2015 to December 2019. Demographic data, clinical signs, and laboratory findings were collected and processed using IBM SPSS 26.0. Results This study included 217 participants with 66 (30.4%) severe pneumonia cases. Multivariate analysis shows that fever that lasts more than 7 days (ORadj = 4.95; 95%CI 1.61–15.21, Padj = 0.005) and increase in respiratory rate (ORadj = 1.05, 95%CI 1.01–1.08, Padj = 0.009) are two predictors of severe pneumonia. Meanwhile, a normal hematocrit level (ORadj = 0.9; 95%CI 0.83–0.98, Padj = 0.011) and children with normal BMI (ORadj = 0.7; 95%CI 0.57–0.84, Padj < 0.001) are significant independent predictors of severe pneumonia. The Hosmer-Lemeshow test shows that this model is a good fit with a P-value of 0.281. The AUC for this model is 0.819 (95%CI = 0.746–0.891, P-value < 0.001) which shows that this model has good discrimination. Conclusion Pediatric CAP hospitalizations with fever lasting > 7 days and tachypnea were at higher risk for progressing to severe pneumonia. A normal hematocrit level and a normal BMI are protective factors for severe pneumonia.

A Retrospective Study on Factors Associated with Severe Childhood Community-Acquired Pneumonia

“…Community-ac quired pneumonia is frequent among children, severe pneumonia, especially, a severe sickness with an abrupt start and progression endangering children's health. If not recognized and treated promptly, it is the primary cause of child mortality [1]. Pathogenic infections with high pathogenicity are the most common cause of severe community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).…”

Factors associated with severe pneumonia among children <5 years, Kasese District, Uganda: a case-control study, January–April 2023

“…Previous studies by Rudin et al,(6) found that about 7-13% of pneumonia cases progress to the severe form; however, the risk factors for progression to severe pneumonia are not well documented in Uganda. In low and middle income countries, documented risk factors for severe pneumonia encompass bacterial causes, immunization status, low weight-for-age, limited caregiver education, lower wealth quintile, delayed care-seeking, household overcrowding, comorbidities, malnutrition, and young age (7)(8)(9). However, these factors exhibited inconsistencies and variations, in uenced by unique contextual disparities across different settings.…”