Table 8. Acute bronchiolitis episodes in patients investigated with a chest X-ray 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 chest X-ray (N = 480) | With chest X-ray (N = 49) | p-value | Univariate | Multivariate | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | n | OR (95% CI) | p-value | OR (95% CI) | p-value | ||||
| Age, % aged > 6 months | 480 | 214 (44.6) | 49 | 11 (22.4) | 0.003 | 0.3 (0.2 to 0.7) | 0.004 | - | - |
| Age (among those > 6 months), months | 214 | 8.2 (7.2 to 9.8) | 11 | 9.9 (7.9 to 10.8) | 0.07 | 1.4 (0.9 to 2.0) | 0.07 | - | - |
| Sex, female | 480 | 206 (43.0) | 49 | 24 (49.0) | 0.4 | 1.3 (0.7 to 2.3) | 0.4 | - | - |
| Prematurity | 442 | 43 (9.7) | 49 | 6 (12.2) | 0.6 | 1.3 (0.5 to 3.2) | 0.6 | - | - |
| Personal history of atopy | 480 | 24 (5.0) | 49 | 3 (6.1) | 0.7 | 1.2 (0.4 to 4.3) | 0.7 | - | - |
| Family history of atopy | 69 | 35 (50.7) | 8 | 4 (50.0) | 1.0 | 1.0 (0.2 to 4.2) | 1.0 | - | - |
| Duration of symptoms at presentation, days | 462 | 3 (2 to 4) | 48 | 3 (2 to 4) | 0.8 | 0.9 (0.8 to 1.1) | 0.7 | - | - |
| Moderate or severe retractions | 480 | 284 (59.2) | 49 | 38 (77.5) | 0.01 | 2.4 (1.2 to 4.8) | 0.01 | - | - |
| Wheezing | 480 | 215 (44.8) | 49 | 16 (32.6) | 0.1 | 0.6 (0.3 to 1.1) | 0.1 | - | - |
| Tachypnoea | 475 | 273 (57.5) | 49 | 32 (65.3) | 0.2 | 1.4 (0.7 to 2.6) | 0.3 | - | - |
| Oxygen saturation at presentation, % | 469 | 97 (96 to 99) | 42 | 94 (93 to 97) | <0.001 | 0.8 (0.8 to 0.9) | <0.001 | - | - |
| Hospitalization | 480 | 149 (31.0) | 49 | 45 (91.8) | <0.001 | 25.0 (8.8 to 70.7) | <0.001 | 13.4 (4.6 to 39.5) | <0.001 |
| ICU admission | 480 | 7 (1.5) | 49 | 22 (44.9) | <0.001 | 55.0 (21.6 to 140.2) | <0.001 | 19.4 (7.4 to 50.6) | <0.001 |
| Length of stay in hospitalized subjects, days | 149 | 4.1 (2.3 to 6.0) | 45 | 6.0 (3.9 to 8.6) | 0.001 | 1.1 (1.0 to 1.2) | 0.007 | - | - |
| Bronchodilators before ED presentation | 480 | 83 (17.3) | 49 | 6 (12.2) | 0.4 | 0.7 (0.3 to 1.6) | 0.4 | - | - |
| Oral corticosteroids before ED presentation | 480 | 8 (1.7) | 49 | 1 (2.0) | 0.8 | 1.2 (0.1 to 10.0) | 0.8 | - | - |
| Inhaled corticosteroids before ED presentation | 480 | 6 (1.2) | 49 | 1 (2.0) | 0.6 | 1.6 (0.2 to 13.9) | 0.6 | - | - |
| Antibiotics before ED presentation | 480 | 38 (7.9) | 49 | 2 (4.1) | 0.3 | 0.5 (0.1 to 2.1) | 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 American Academy of Pediatrics clinical practice guideline on bronchiolitis: [3] Period 2 immediately followed publication of the guideline and Period 3 covered year 3 post-guideline publication.