Table 5. Acute bronchiolitis episodes in patients treated with or without oral corticosteroids in the emergency department, after publication of the American Academy of Pediatrics clinical practice guideline on bronchiolitis [3] (periods 2 and 3, combined) a.
| Patient characteristics | No oral corticosteroids (N = 515) | With oral corticosteroids (N = 14) | p-value | Univariate | Multivariate | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | n | OR (95% CI) | p-value | OR (95% CI) | p-value | ||||
| Age, % aged > 6 months | 515 | 214 (41.5) | 14 | 11 (78.6) | 0.006 | 5.2 (1.4 to 18.7) | 0.01 | 4.2 (1.1 to 15.2) | 0.03 |
| Age (among those > 6 months), months | 214 | 8.2 (7.2 to 9.9) | 11 | 8.6 (7.2 to 10.8) | 0.5 | 1.1 (0.8 to 1.6) | 0.5 | - | - |
| Sex, female | 515 | 225 (43.7) | 14 | 5 (35.7) | 0.6 | 0.7 (0.2 to 2.2) | 0.6 | - | - |
| Prematurity | 479 | 49 (10.2) | 12 | 0 (0) | 0.2 | - | - | - | - |
| Personal history of atopy | 515 | 25 (4.8) | 14 | 2 (14.2) | 0.1 | 3.2 (0.7 to 15.4) | 0.1 | - | - |
| Family history of atopy | 73 | 37 (50.7) | 4 | 2 (50.0) | 1.0 | 0.9 (0.12 to 7.3) | 1.0 | - | - |
| Duration of symptoms at presentation, days | 498 | 3 (2 to 4) | 12 | 2.5 (1.5 to 3) | 0.2 | 0.8 (0.6 to 1.1) | 0.3 | - | - |
| Moderate or severe retractions | 515 | 315 (61.2) | 14 | 7 (50.0) | 0.4 | 0.6 (0.2 to 1.8) | 0.4 | - | - |
| Wheezing | 515 | 220 (42.7) | 14 | 11 (78.6) | 0.008 | 4.9 (1.3 to 17.8) | 0.02 | 3.9 (1.1 to 14.4) | 0.04 |
| Tachypnoea | 510 | 298 (58.4) | 14 | 7 (50.0) | 0.5 | 0.7 (0.2 to 2.0) | 0.5 | - | - |
| Oxygen saturation at presentation, % | 497 | 97 (95 to 99) | 14 | 97.5 (94 to 100) | 0.7 | 0.9 (0.8 to 1.1) | 0.4 | - | - |
| Hospitalization | 515 | 189 (36.7) | 14 | 5 (35.7) | 0.9 | 0.9 (0.3 to 2.9) | 0.9 | - | - |
| ICU admission | 515 | 28 (5.4) | 14 | 1 (7.1) | 0.8 | 1.3 (0.2 to 10.6) | 0.8 | - | - |
| Length of stay in hospitalized subjects, days | 189 | 4.3 (2.6 to 6.9) | 5 | 4.1 (3.5 to 6.0) | 1.0 | 0.9 (0.7 to 1.3) | 1.0 | - | - |
| Bronchodilators before ED presentation | 515 | 84 (16.3) | 14 | 5 (35.7) | 0.06 | 2.8 (0.9 to 8.7) | 0.07 | - | - |
| Oral corticosteroids before ED presentation | 515 | 9 (1.7) | 14 | 0 (0) | 0.6 | - | - | - | - |
| Inhaled corticosteroids before ED presentation | 515 | 6 (1.2) | 14 | 1 (7.2) | 0.05 | 6.5 (0.7 to 58.1) | 0.09 | - | - |
| Antibiotics before ED presentation | 515 | 38 (7.4) | 14 | 2 (14.3) | 0.3 | 2.1 (0.4 to 9.7) | 0.3 | - | - |
Categorical variables are reported as number (%), continuous variables are reported as median (interquartile range).
a The study periods were determined based on the publication of the 2014 American Academy of Pediatrics clinical practice guideline on bronchiolitis: [3] Period 2 immediately followed publication of the guideline and Period 3 covered the 3rd year post-guideline publication.