Table 1.
Demographic and clinical characteristics of cases and community controls
| Characteristic | Study groups | p-value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cases | Controls | |||
| Gender1 (male) | 261/443 (59%) | 132/289 (46%) | 0.00042 | |
| Age (months)3 | 19.40 (14.08) [443] | 26.61 (18.51) [289] | <0.00014 | |
| Jaundice1 | 5/443 (1%) | 0/288 (0%) | 0.16285 | |
| Palpable spleen1 | 96/443 (22%) | 1/288 (0%) | <0.00012 | |
| Fever1 | 389/443 (88%) | 1/289 (0%) | <0.00012 | |
| Haemoglobin g/dl3 | 7.88 (1.98) [443] | 11.66 (0.75) [289] | <0.00014 | |
| Haemoglobin < 5 g/dl1 | 40/443 (9%) | 0/289 (0%) | <0.00012 | |
| MCV (fl)3 | 71.53 (9.64) [427] | 75.63 (7.02) [270] | <0.00014 | |
| MCHC (g/dl)6 | 32.60 (4.20) [425] | 34.00 (3.30) [270] | <0.00017 | |
| RBC distribution width-sd (fl)6 | 45.40 (9.60) [420] | 41.75 (6.10) [270] | <0.00017 | |
| White Blood Cells (x103/μl)8 | 10.54 (7.54) [426] | 8.75 (3.44) [272] | <0.00014 | |
| CRP (mg/dl)6 | 5.99 (10.77) [432] | 0.05 (0.25) [282] | <0.00017 | |
| EPO (U/l)6 | 53.45 (176.10) [434] | 10.50 (7.00) [283] | <0.00017 | |
| Inflammation1 | 356/432 (82%) | 27/282 (10%) | <0.00012 | |
| Insufficient erythropoiesis1 | 311/326 (95%) | 172/195 (88%) | 0.00222 | |
| Duration of infant admission (days)3 | 4.93 (4.94) [426] | - | ||
| Outcome of admission1 | Alive | 386/425 (91%) | - | |
| Died | 13/425 (3%) | - | ||
| Left | 13/425 (3%) | - | ||
| Transferred | 13/425 (3%) | - | ||
1n/N (percentage); 2Chi-squared test; 3Arithmetic mean (SD) [n]; 4t-test; 5Fisher’s exact test; 6Median (IQR) [n]; 7Wilcoxon Rank Sum test; 8Geometric mean (SD) [n]
Abbreviations: CRP C-reactive protein, EPO Erythropoietin, MCHC Mean cell haemoglobin concentration, MCV Mean cell volume, RBC Red blood cells