Table 1.

Univariable associations (p<0·05) with hospital admission

	Hospitalised children	Non-hospitalised children	Odds ratio	95% CI	p value
Sociodemographics and past medical history
Current asthma*	19/78 (24%)	731/8316 (9%)	3·34	1·98–5·65	<0·001
Age <2 (years)	47/78 (60%)	2781/8316 (33%)	3·02	1·91–4·76	<0·001
≥6 RTI consults in previous 12 months	9/78 (12%)	437/8316 (5%)	2·35	1·17–4·74	0·01
Male	51/78 (65%)	4280/8316 (51%)	1·78	1·12–2·85	0·01
Non-white ethnicity	8/77 (10%)	1798/8272 (22%)	0·42	0·20–0·87	0·02
Carer-reported general symptoms
Illness duration ≤3 days	43/78 (55%)	2352/8312 (28%)	3·11	1·99–4·88	<0·001
Severity of illness ≥7/10	33/77 (43%)	2114/8291 (25%)	2·19	1·39–3·45	<0·001
Carer-reported symptoms (present any time during illness)
Breathing quickly†	44/78 (56%)	2394/8312 (29%)	2·37	1·51–3·72	<0·001
Wheezing	44/78 (56%)	3241/8310 (39%)	2·02	1·29–3·18	0·002
Vomiting‡	33/78 (42%)	2314/8312 (28%)	1·90	1·21–2·99	0·005
Change in crying	20/78 (26%)	1362/8285 (16%)	1·75	1·05–2·92	0·03
Carer-reported symptoms (in the previous 24 h)
Moderate-to-severe vomiting‡	20/78 (26%)	820/8303 (10%)	3·14	1·88–5·26	<0·001
Severe fever	12/78 (15%)	529/8283 (6%)	2·69	1·43–4·96	0·001
Severe disturbed sleep	23/78 (30%)	1328/8272 (16%)	2·19	1·34–3·57	0·001
Breathing quickly†	32/78 (41%)	1599/8298 (19%)	2·91	1·85–4·59	0·001
Moderate-to-severe wheezing in chest	27/78 (35%)	1589/8297 (19%)	2·23	1·40–3·57	0·001
Severe reduction in eating	10/78 (13%)	419/8277 (5%)	2·70	1·41–5·40	0·002
Moderate-to-severe reduction in urine passed	9/78 (12%)	455/8284 (5%)	2·24	1·11–4·52	0·02
Severe dry cough	10/78 (13%)	551/8285 (7%)	2·06	1·06–4·03	0·03
Moderate-to-severe diarrhoea	7/78 (9%)	337/8305 (4%)	2·33	1·06–5·12	0·03
Moderate-to-severe reduced fluid intake	17/78 (22%)	1140/8291 (14%)	1·75	1·02–3·00	0·04
General clinical examination
Irritable or drowsy	5/78 (6%)	123/8301 (1%)	4·55	1·81–11·47	0·007
Pallor	15/77 (20%)	808/8306 (10%)	2·25	1·27–3·96	0·004
Nasal flaring	5/78 (6%)	97/8306 (1·2%)	5·80	2·29–14·66	0·003
Grunting	4/78 (5%)	72/8304 (1%)	6·18	2·20–17·36	0·005
Temperature ≥37·8°C	20/78 (26%)	1026/8294 (12%)	2·75	1·64–4·58	<0·001
Oxygen saturation ≤95%	11/39 (28%)	392/4155 (9%)	3·77	1·86–7·63	<0·001
Severity of illness ≥ 4/10	38/78 (49%)	1691/8292 (20%)	3·71	2·37–5·80	<0·001
Clinician's gut feeling that something is wrong	30/78 (39%)	1676/8299 (20%)	2·47	1·56–3·91	<0·001
Chest examination
Tachypnoea§	21/78 (28%)	1222/8272 (15%)	2·12	1·28–3·52	0·002
Recession	25/78 (32%)	379/8304 (5%)	9·86	6·06–16·05	<0·001
Wheeze	34/78 (44%)	1203/8303 (14%)	4·56	2·90–7·16	<0·001
Crackles or crepitations	25/78 (32%)	1575/8303 (19%)	2·02	1·25–3·25	0·003

RTI=respiratory tract infections.

^*Defined as present if asthma in medical notes and asthma drugs issued in the previous 12 months²⁷