Table 1.
Characteristics of the study population according to malaria severity
| Characteristic | Total (N = 289) |
Non-severe malaria (N = 169) | Severe malaria (N = 120) | p-value | Crude OR (95%CI) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years); mean, SD | 40.6 ± 19.3 | 38.0 ± 17.6 | 44.2 ± 21.2 | 0.007 | |
| Age (categorised) | |||||
| 20–29 | 124 (42.9) | 77 (45.5) | 47 (39.2) | ||
| 30–39 | 48 (16.6) | 30 (17.8) | 18 (15.0) | 0.962 | 1.02 (0.51–2.03) |
| 40–49 | 24 (8.3) | 18 (10.7) | 6 (5.0) | 0.282 | 0.58 (0.22–1.57) |
| 50–59 | 24 (8.3) | 17 (10.1) | 7 (5.8) | 0.496 | 0.72 (0.27–1.87) |
| ≥ 60 | 69 (23.9) | 27 (16.0) | 42 (35.0) | 0.002 | 2.55 (1.39–4.66) |
| Sex | |||||
| Male | 107 (37.0) | 69 (40.8) | 38 (31.7) | ||
| Female | 182 (63.0) | 100 (59.2) | 82 (68.3) | 0.089 | 1.53 (0.94–2.51) |
| Education | |||||
| None | 17 (5.9) | 4 (2.4) | 13 (10.8) | ||
| Primary | 63 (21.8) | 32 (18.9) | 31 (25.8) | 0.060 | 0.31 (0.09–1.05) |
| Secondary | 42 (14.5) | 19 (11.2) | 23 (19.2) | 0.153 | 0.39 (0.11–1.41) |
| High school | 43 (14.8) | 24 (14.2) | 19 (15.8) | 0.035 | 0.25 (0.07–0.91) |
| Higher education | 124 (42.9) | 90 (54.2) | 34 (28.3) | 0.000 | 0.12 (0.04–0.38) |
| Occupation | |||||
| Student | 86 (29.8) | 60 (35.5) | 26 (21.7) | ||
| Health worker | 20 (6.9) | 16 (9.5) | 4 (3.3) | 0.426 | 0.62 (0.19–2.03) |
| Farming | 69 (23.9) | 34 (20.1) | 35 (29.2) | 0.008 | 2.45 (1.26–4.74) |
| Business | 67 (23.2) | 32 (18.9) | 35 (29.2) | 0.005 | 2.61 (1.34–5.08) |
| Others | 47 (16.2) | 27 (16.0) | 20 (16.6) | 0.155 | 1.71 (0.81–3.57) |
| Comorbidities reported by patients or recorded in medical files | |||||
| Diabetes | 15 (5.2) | 4 (2.4) | 11 (9.2) | 0.016 | 4.23 (1.31–13.7) |
| Hypertension | 30 (10.4) | 17 (10.1) | 12 (10.0) | 0.255 | 1.35 (0.80–2.28) |
| Liver disease1 | 4 (1.4) | 3 (1.8) | 1 (0.8) | 0.912 | 1.06 (0.40–2.77) |
| Asthma | 2 (0.7) | 2 (1.2) | 0 | ||
| Cardiac disease2 | 4 (1.4) | 3 (1.8) | 1 (0.8) | 0.350 | 1.78 (0.53–5.93) |
| Cancer3 | 4 (1.4) | 0 | 4 (3.3) | 0.581 | 1.21 (0.62–2.35) |
| Positive HIV test at inclusion4 | 10 (3.6) | 5 (3.1) | 5 (4.4) | 0.568 | 1.45 (0.41–5.11) |
| Pregnancy | 32 (17.6) | 21 (21.0) | 11 (13.4) | 0.641 | 0.87 (0.49–1.54) |
| Hemoglobin traits | |||||
| Sickle-cell traits | |||||
| AA | 243 (84.1) | 142 (84.0) | 101 (84.2) | ||
| AS | 27 (9.3) | 18 (10.7) | 9 (7.5) | 0.383 | 0.69 (0.30–1.59) |
| SS | 3 (1.1) | 1 (0.6) | 2 (1.7) | 0.411 | 2.75 (0.25–30) |
| Missing | 16 (5.5) | 8 (4.7) | 8 (6.6) | ||
| Blood group5 | |||||
| A | 68 (22.8) | 41 (24.3) | 26 (21.7) | ||
| B | 56 (19.4) | 36 (21.3) | 19 (14.7) | 0.631 | 0.72 (0.03–8.45) |
| AB | 13 (4.5) | 6 (3.6) | 7 (5.8) | 1.00 | 1.53 (0.05–19) |
| O | 129 (44.6) | 73 (43.2) | 56 (46.7) | 0.866 | 0.78 (0.05–12) |
| Missing | 23 (7.9) | 11 (6.5) | 12 (10.0) | ||
| Health behavioural factors | |||||
| Patient delay in consultation, days from symptom onset | |||||
| 0–1 | 36 (13.6) | 21 (12.6) | 15 (12.5) | ||
| 2–3 | 113 (42.6) | 67 (40.4) | 46 (38.3) | 0.919 | 0.96 (0.45–2.06) |
| ≥ 4 | 116 (43.7) | 67 (39.6) | 49 (40.8) | 0.889 | 1.06 (0.49–2.25) |
| Missing | 24 (8.3) | 14 (8.3) | 10 (8.3) | ||
| Malaria home treatment | 82 (28.4) | 49 (29.0) | 33 (27.5) | 0.742 | 0.92 (0.54–1.54) |
| Missing | 1 (0.3) | 1 (0.8) | |||
Legend: Data is presented as numbers and percentages (%) if not otherwise stated.
SD = Standard deviation
1cholecystitis, chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis C, steatohepatitis
2 heart failure, left ventricular hypertrophy, and cardiomyopathy
3uterus, breast, multiple myeloma, prostate; 4Nine out of these 10 cases were previously known; 5A + = 66, A- = 1, A (unconfirmed Rhesus) = 1, B + = 55, B- = 1, AB + = 12, AB- = 1, O + = 127, O- = 2