Paediatrica Indonesiana (Feb 2013)
Significant clinical features in pediatric pneumonia
Abstract
Background Pneumonia is the leading cause of childhood mortality in the world. Although WHO develops an algorithm for diagnosing pneumonia, many clinicians still under or overdiagnose this disease. Objective To assess associations of cough, tachypnea, fever, and chest indrawing with pneumonia in children. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted using medical records of children aged less than 5 year old with one or more clinical signs of pneumonia such as cough, fever, tachypnea, and chest indrawing in Haji Adam Malik Hospital, Medan from January 2009 to December 2011. Pneumonia was diagnosed by pediatric respirologists based on history-taking, and physical, laboratory and radiology examinations. Patients with incomplete data were excluded. Data was analyzed by bivariate and multivariate analyses. Results Of 420 subjects, the majority were aged 3 to 23 months and there were more boys than girls. Clinical signs assessed for were cough (82.9%), tachypnea (31 %), fever (79.3%), and chest indrawing (40.2%). Age < 24 months (OR 2.563; 95% CI 1.497 to 4.387), cough (OR 2.274; 95% CI 1.042 to 4.960), tachypnea (OR 2.249; 95% CI 1.282 to 3.947), and chest indrawing (OR 6.993; 95% CI 4.017 to 12.173) were significant predictors for pneumonia. Conclusion Age less than 24 months, cough, tachypnea, and chest indrawing are significantly associated with pneumonia.
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