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Published on: September 6, 2024

Nutritional Status as a Predictor for Length of Stay of Patients with Respiratory Ailments in the Paediatric

Shreya Maheshwari1, Hanniyah Khwaja, A R Rajan

  • 1Department of Paediatrics, Symbiosis Medical College for Women and Symbiosis University Hospital and Research Centre, Symbiosis International (Deemed University) Lavale, Pune, Maharashtra, India.

The Nigerian Postgraduate Medical Journal
|March 2, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Malnourished children admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) with respiratory illnesses experienced significantly longer hospital stays. Early assessment of malnutrition can predict prolonged PICU and hospital stays.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Intensive Care
  • Public Health Nutrition
  • Respiratory Medicine

Background:

  • Malnutrition is a critical public health issue in India, affecting millions of children.
  • Undernourished children admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) often have poorer outcomes.
  • Malnutrition is linked to increased PICU length of stay and higher respiratory severity scores.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the impact of nutritional status on PICU length of stay for children with respiratory illnesses.
  • To assess the correlation between malnutrition and respiratory severity in pediatric patients.
  • To understand the implications of nutritional status for resource utilization in a tertiary care hospital.

Main Methods:

  • A prospective descriptive study involving 49 children admitted with respiratory illness to a PICU.
  • Data collection over a 6-month period using standard clinical assessments.
  • Statistical analysis performed using IBM SPSS Statistics to determine correlations.

Main Results:

  • Over 61% of children admitted with respiratory illness showed some degree of malnutrition.
  • Malnourished children had a significantly longer average PICU stay (5.82 days) compared to well-nourished children (2.29 days).
  • A significant positive correlation was observed between malnutrition, prolonged PICU/hospital stay, and higher Paediatric Respiratory Severity Score (PRESS) scores.

Conclusions:

  • The severity of malnutrition directly correlates with increased respiratory illness severity and extended PICU and hospital stays.
  • Assessing malnutrition at admission can help predict resource needs and patient outcomes.
  • Nutritional status is a key factor influencing pediatric intensive care management for respiratory conditions.
Abstract

Keywords:
Duration of paediatric intensive care unit staymalnutritionoutcomespaediatric respiratory severity score

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