Table 2.
Clinical and laboratory findings of children hospitalised with severe pneumonia, stratified by age group and outcome
| Children aged <2 months | Children aged 2–59 months | |||||||
| Survived n=709 |
Died n=40 |
CFR 5.3 |
P value | Survived n=4107 |
Died n=198 |
CFR 4.6 |
P value | |
| Clinical findings | ||||||||
| Neck rigidity | ||||||||
| Yes | 2 (0.4) | 0 (0.0) | 0.0 | 1.000 | 6 (0.1) | 2 (2.7) | 25.0 | 0.008 |
| No | 457 (99.6) | 12 (100.0) | 2433 (99.9) | 71 (97.3) | ||||
| Sensorial changes | ||||||||
| Yes | 26 (4.1) | 10 (26.3) | 27.8 | <0.001 | 146 (4.0) | 51 (28.8) | 25.9 | <0.001 |
| No | 608 (95.9) | 28 (73.7) | 3466 (96.0) | 126 (71.2) | ||||
| Glasgow Coma Scale | ||||||||
| Severe | 1 (14.3) | 1 (50.0) | 50.0 | 0.140 | 2 (3.6) | 5 (55.6) | 71.4 | <0.001 |
| Moderate | 6 (85.7) | 1 (50.0) | 54 (96.4) | 4 (44.4) | ||||
| Grunting | ||||||||
| Yes | 4 (0.9) | 2 (18.2) | 33.3 | <0.001 | 13 (0.5) | 6 (8.2) | 31.6 | <0.001 |
| No | 455 (99.1) | 9 (81.8) | 2427 (99.5) | 67 (91.8) | ||||
| Yes | 15 (2.1) | 4 (10.0) | 21.1 | 0.010 | 81 (2.0) | 12 (6.1) | 12.9 | <0.001 |
| No | 694 (97.9) | 36 (90.0) | 4022 (98.0) | 186 (93.9) | ||||
| Wheezing | ||||||||
| Yes | 91 (12.8) | 9 (22.5) | 9.0 | 0.130 | 1454 (35.4) | 84 (42.6) | 5.5 | 0.040 |
| No | 618 (87.2) | 31 (77.5) | 2650 (64.6) | 113 (57.4) | ||||
| Chest indrawing | ||||||||
| Yes | 704 (99.3) | 38 (95.0) | 5.1 | 0.050 | 4080 (99.4) | 196 (99.0) | 4.6 | 0.730 |
| No | 5 (0.7) | 2 (5.0) | 23 (0.6) | 2 (1.0) | ||||
| Rales | ||||||||
| Yes | 693 (97.7) | 39 (97.5) | 5.3 | 1.000 | 4083 (99.5) | 197 (99.5) | 4.6 | 1.000 |
| No | 16 (2.3) | 1 (2.5) | 21 (0.5) | 1 (0.5) | ||||
| Central cyanosis | ||||||||
| Yes | 22 (3.1) | 8 (20.0) | 26.7 | <0.001 | 45 (1.1) | 47 (23.9) | 51.1 | <0.001 |
| No | 687 (96.9) | 32 (80.0) | 4056 (98.9) | 150 (76.1) | ||||
| Apnoeic episode | ||||||||
| Yes | 3 (0.4) | 3 (7.5) | 50.0 | <0.001 | 2 (0.5) | 14 (7.1) | 87.5 | <0.001 |
| No | 706 (99.6) | 37 (92.5) | 4098 (99.5) | 183 (92.9) | ||||
| Nasal flaring | ||||||||
| Yes | 183 (39.9) | 8 (66.7) | 4.2 | 0.110 | 996 (40.8) | 39 (53.4) | 3.8 | 0.040 |
| No | 276 (60.1) | 4 (33.3) | 1444 (59.2) | 34 (46.6) | ||||
| Tachypnoea | ||||||||
| Yes | 594 (84.4) | 35 (92.1) | 5.6 | 0.250 | 3428 (83.8) | 169 (91.4) | 4.7 | <0.001 |
| No | 110 (15.6) | 3 (7.9) | 663 (16.2) | 16 (8.6) | ||||
| SpO2 <90% | ||||||||
| Yes | 75 (10.7) | 14 (35.0) | 15.7 | <0.001 | 494 (12.1) | 71 (36.0) | 12.6 | 0.005 |
| No | 629 (89.3) | 26 (65.0) | 3588 (87.9) | 126 (64.0) | ||||
| Tachycardia | ||||||||
| Yes | 61 (8.7) | 4 (10.3) | 6.2 | 0.770 | 1373 (33.8) | 69 (35.6) | 4.8 | 0.640 |
| No | 640 (91.3) | 35 (89.7) | 2691 (66.2) | 125 (64.4) | ||||
| Fever >38.5°C | ||||||||
| Yes | 23 (3.2) | 11 (27.5) | 32.4 | <0.001 | 862 (21.0) | 72 (36.4) | 7.7 | <0.001 |
| No | 686 (96.8) | 29 (72.5) | 3245 (79.0) | 126 (63.6) | ||||
| Chest radiographs findings | ||||||||
| End-point pneumonia | ||||||||
| Yes | 40 (5.6) | 11 (27.5) | 15.5 | <0.001 | 1155 (31.7) | 81 (50.9) | 6.6 | <0.001 |
| No | 669 (94.4) | 29 (72.5) | 2493 (68.3) | 72 (47.1) | ||||
| Consolidations | ||||||||
| Yes | 40 (6.5) | 11 (31.4) | 21.6 | <0.001 | 366 (9.9) | 49 (32.0) | 11.8 | <0.001 |
| No | 572 (93.5) | 24 (68.6) | 3286 (90.1) | 104 (68.0) | ||||
| Infiltrations | ||||||||
| Yes | 120 (19.6) | 13 (37.1) | 9.8 | 0.020 | 1301 (35.6) | 70 (45.8) | 5.1 | 0.010 |
| No | 493 (80.4) | 22 (62.9) | 2351 (64.4) | 83 (54.2) | ||||
| Pleural effusions | ||||||||
| Yes | 1 (0.2) | 1 (2.9) | 50.0 | 0.100 | 25 (0.7) | 7 (4.6) | 21.9 | <0.001 |
| No | 612 (99.8) | 34 (97.1) | 3630 (99.3) | 146 (95.4) | ||||
| Chest X-ray | ||||||||
| Negative | 473 (77.3) | 14 (40.0) | 2.9 | <0.001 | 2159 (59.2) | 58 (37.9) | 2.6 | 0.001 |
| Positive | 139 (22.7) | 21 (60.0) | 13.1 | 1490 (40.8) | 95 (62.1) | 6.0 | ||
| Complete blood counts results | ||||||||
| Haematocrit (%) | 36.0 (7.7) | 38.0 (7.8) | 0.430 | 34.0 (4.6) | 31.0 (5.9) | <0.001 | ||
| Haemoglobin (g/L) | 120.0 (25.0) | 123.0 (27.0) | 0.400 | 112.0(15.0) | 103.0 (19.0) | <0.001 | ||
| WBC count (109/L) | 11.1 (6.5) | 15.3 (14.6) | 0.04 | 12.2 (6.2) | 13.1 (11.2) | 0.004 | ||
| Neutrophils (109/L) | 4.4 (2.7) | 10.3 (9.1) | 0.06 | 7.17 (4.9) | 9.86 (8.8) | 0.010 | ||
| Platelets (109/L) | 358 (140) | 280 (141) | 0.08 | 362 (160) | 365 (196) | 0.850 | ||
| Severe anaemia <80 g/L | ||||||||
| Yes | 4 (0.6) | 2 (5.6) | 33.3 | <0.010 | 93 (2.4) | 18 (9.7) | 51.8 | <0.001 |
| No | 666 (99.4) | 34 (94.4) | 3810 (97.6) | 168 (90.3) | ||||
n (%) of children unless stated otherwise.
Rate of each parameter was calculated without the missing values.
Anaemia was defined when haemoglobin was <80 g/L. Wheeze: wheeze on stethoscope.
In complete blood counts results, mean (SD) were presented.
CFR, case fatality rate (%); SD, SD in each standardised units; SpO2, saturation of peripheral oxygen; WBC, white blood cells.