Table 1.
Patient characteristics at admission.
| Strata |
Total |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NW (N = 1120) | MW (N = 763) | SWK (N = 1218) | N = 3101 | |
| Demographics | ||||
| Age — months median (IQR) | 11.3 (7.2–16.2) | 10.6 (7.0–14.8) | 10.4 (6.4–15.8) | 10.8 (6.8–15.7) |
| Sex (female) — no. (%) | 432 (39) | 329 (43) | 583 (48) | 1344 (43) |
| Clinical presentation at admission | ||||
| SIRS — no. (%) | 395 (35) | 284 (37) | 386 (32) | 1065 (34) |
| Severe Pneumonia — no. (%) | 286 (26) | 179 (23) | 202 (17) | 667 (22) |
| Neurological (AVPU > A) — no. (%) | 46 (4.1) | 47 (6.2) | 53 (4.4) | 146 (4.7) |
| Diarrhea — no. (%) | 525 (47) | 484 (63) | 712 (58) | 1721 (56) |
| Malaria (RDT positive) — no. (%) | 202 (18) | 106 (14) | 132 (11) | 440 (14) |
| Anemia — no. (%)a | ||||
| None | 243 (22) | 131 (17) | 216 (18) | 590 (19) |
| Mild | 279 (25) | 164 (21) | 241 (20) | 684 (22) |
| Moderate/severe | 598 (53) | 468 (61) | 761 (62) | 1827 (59) |
| Blood glucose — no. (%)b | ||||
| Normal blood glucose | 1041 (93) | 715 (94) | 1101 (90) | 2857 (92) |
| Abnormal blood glucose | 79 (7.1) | 48 (6.3) | 117 (9.6) | 244 (7.9) |
| Anthropometry at admission | ||||
| Weight-for-length z score — mean (sd)c | −0.6 (1.2) | −2.4 (1.0) | −3.1 (1.6) | −2.0 (1.7) |
| Weight-for-age z score — mean (sd)c | −1.1 (1.1) | −2.7 (0.9) | −4.0 (1.4) | −2.6 (1.7) |
| Length-for-age z score — mean (sd) | −1.1 (1.3) | −1.9 (1.3) | −3.1 (1.7) | −2.1 (1.7) |
| Small birth size — no. (%)d | 132 (12) | 132 (17) | 245 (20) | 509 (16) |
| HIV — no. (%) | ||||
| Negative | 1010 (90) | 693 (91) | 1034 (85) | 2737 (88) |
| Untested/refused | 39 (3.5) | 14 (1.8) | 23 (1.9) | 76 (2.5) |
| HIV infected | 15 (1.3) | 17 (2.2) | 74 (6.1) | 106 (3.4) |
| HIV exposed | 56 (5.0) | 39 (5.1) | 87 (7.1) | 182 (5.9) |
| Chronic conditions — no. (%)e | 59 (5.3) | 51 (6.7) | 93 (7.6) | 203 (6.6) |
| Prior hospitalization — no. (%) | ||||
| No prior admission | 868 (78) | 580 (76) | 860 (71) | 2308 (74) |
| <1 week | 50 (4.5) | 52 (6.8) | 73 (6.0) | 175 (5.6) |
| 1 weeks to 1 month ago | 56 (5.0) | 42 (5.5) | 109 (9.0) | 207 (6.7) |
| >1month ago | 146 (13) | 89 (12) | 176 (14) | 411 (13) |
| Caregiver characteristics | ||||
| Biological mother as primary caregiver — no. (%) | 1091 (97) | 731 (96) | 1134 (93) | 2956 (95) |
| Mother sick — no. (%) | 152 (14) | 138 (18) | 158 (13) | 448 (14) |
| Caregiver education — no. (%) | ||||
| None | 236 (21) | 220 (29) | 345 (28) | 801 (26) |
| Primary | 486 (43) | 305 (40) | 533 (44) | 1324 (43) |
| Secondary/Tertiary | 398 (35) | 238 (31) | 340 (28) | 976 (31) |
| Maternal mental health (PHQ9) score — no. (%) | ||||
| None to Mild | 970 (87) | 614 (80) | 933 (77) | 2517 (81) |
| Moderate to severe | 150 (13) | 149 (20) | 285 (23) | 584 (19) |
| Mother working — no. (%) | ||||
| Self-employed | 245 (22) | 133 (17) | 258 (21) | 636 (21) |
| Employed | 100 (8.9) | 80 (10) | 113 (9.3) | 293 (9.5) |
| No reported income | 775 (69) | 550 (72) | 847 (70) | 2172 (70) |
| Household-level exposures | ||||
| Population density (/1000 square KM) median (IQR) | 4.4 (0.4–13.7) | 4.0 (0.7–19.1) | 5.1 (0.4–18.8) | 4.6 (0.5–16.4) |
| Assets index — no. (%) | ||||
| Quintile 1 (Least assets) | 256 (23) | 169 (22) | 208 (17) | 633 (20) |
| Quintile 2 | 221 (20) | 156 (20) | 252 (21) | 629 (20) |
| Quintile 3 | 213 (19) | 153 (20) | 268 (22) | 634 (21) |
| Quintile 4 | 215 (19) | 141 (18) | 240 (20) | 596 (19) |
| Quintile 5 (Most assets) | 215 (19) | 144 (19) | 250 (21) | 609 (20) |
| Household food insecurity — no. (%) | ||||
| Low | 713 (64) | 473 (62) | 659 (54) | 1845 (60) |
| Medium | 302 (27) | 186 (24) | 333 (27) | 821 (26) |
| High | 105 (9.4) | 104 (13) | 226 (18) | 435 (14) |
| Improved toilet — no. (%) | 835 (75) | 606 (79) | 900 (74) | 2341 (75) |
| Improved water source — no. (%) | 946 (84) | 632 (83) | 986 (81) | 2564 (83) |
| Distance to the nearest health facility (km) median (IQR) | 1.3 (0.5–3.1) | 1.2 (0.5–3.7) | 1.3 (0.5–2.8) | 1.3 (0.5–3.1) |
| Means of travel to hospital — no. (%) | ||||
| Bus/ambulance/car/train | 505 (45) | 315 (41) | 606 (50) | 1426 (46) |
| Walking/Motorcycle/Tukutuku/rickshaw | 615 (55) | 448 (59) | 612 (50) | 1675 (54) |
| Travel cost to study hospital — no. (%) | ||||
| <1 US dollar | 463 (41) | 269 (35) | 439 (36) | 1171 (38) |
| 1 to 5 US dollars | 573 (51) | 402 (53) | 669 (55) | 1644 (53) |
| ≥5 US dollars | 84 (7.5) | 92 (12) | 110 (9.0) | 286 (9.2) |
| Travel time to study hospital — no. (%) | ||||
| <1 h | 526 (47) | 316 (41) | 447 (37) | 1289 (42) |
| 1–2 h | 414 (37) | 272 (36) | 457 (38) | 1143 (37) |
| ≥2 h | 180 (16) | 175 (23) | 314 (26) | 669 (21) |
IQR; Interquartile range, SIRS; Systemic inflammatory response syndrome, AVPU; Alert, Voice, pain and Unresponsive, RDT; rapid diagnostic test, MUAC; mid-upper arm circumference.
a
None: >11, Mild:10 to11, Moderate: 7 to 10 and Severe: <7.0 g/L.
b
Abnormal blood glucose defined as blood glucose <3 or 10 mmol/dl.
c
Children with oedema excluded from these values.
d
Small birth size was defined as reported low birth weight (<2.5 kg) or born premature.
e
Chronic conditions includes thalassemia, cerebral palsy, sickle cell disease, congenital cardiac disease and know TB (on treatment).