Prevalence and risk factors of pneumonia in under five children living in slums of Dibrugarh town

Abstract

Background: Pneumonia is a severe form of acute lower respiratory infection responsible for high preventable morbidities and mortality amongst under five year child. Many risk factors and barriers for care seeking influencing the prevalence of ARI and pneumonia. Methods: A community based cross sectional study was undertaken in two slums of Dibrugarh town that were randomly selected. Subject: Selection was done by probability proportionate to size technique. A total of 624 children were examined by house to house visit. Results: Prevalence of pneumonia was 16.34%. Socio economic status (p = 0.005), education of mothers (p = 0.000), timely initiation of complementary feeding (p = 0.006), complete immunization (p = 0.000) and indoor air pollution (p = 0.000), were significantly associated with occurrence of pneumonia. In multivariate analysis, pneumonia is significantly associated with indoor air pollution. Conclusion: High prevalence of pneumonia and its association with different preventable risk factors needs to be addressed. Different community based intervention can be implemented to reduce this preventable morbidities.

Risk factors for acute severe pneumonia in under five children

“…Low literacy status of mother emerged as an independent risk factor for occurrence of acute severe pneumonia similar result has been observed by Nirmolia et al 16 The beneficial effects of maternal education may be due to better health awareness and health care practices. Major emphasis on maternal literacy in primary prevention of ARE may lead to other simple cost-effective tools like promotion of breast feeding, awareness of immunization, lesser number of pregnancies and early approach to health care system.…”

“…4 Nirmolia N et al, and Tupasi TE et al, also reported that low socioeconomic status was significant risk factor for ARI morbidity. 16,25 Overcrowding promotes the transmission of respiratory pathogens and increases the size of infecting inoculum.…”

“…4 Further studies have added other risk factors to the list including poor socioeconomic status, large family size, and family history of bronchitis, advanced birth order, crowding, young age, air pollution, and the use of non-allopathic treatment in early stages of illnesse. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] More recent reviews suggest that indoor air pollution is one of the major risk factor for acute lower respiratory tract infection in children in developing countries. 18,19 Many of the factors mentioned are amenable to corrective measures and may help in reducing the alarmingly high global burden of acute severe pneumonia.…”

Prevalence of pneumonia and its associated factors among under five children in East Africa. Meta-analysis and systemic review

“…This result was higher than a study conducted in Dibrugarh, India which had reported the prevalence of pneumonia in under-five children to be 16.34% (9). This might be due to socioeconomic discrepancies as countries in East Africa are less developed than India.…”

Risk Factor of Pnemonia among Children Aged Under 5 Years. A Case Control Study in Samarinda, Indonesia

“…12 However, these results differ with the results of Onyango et al 5 which concluded Comorbidity, contact with upper respiratory tract infection and delay in seeking treatment are risk factors for severe pneumonia among children aged 2-59 months in Western Kenya.…”