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Risk Factors of Pneumonia Among Under-five Children Attending the Public Hospital of Hadiya Central Ethiopia 2024
Seifu Awgchew Mamo1, Sisay Foga1, Rediet Gebreselassie Kelelew2
1Department of Pediatrics and Child Health Nursing, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Wachemo University, Hosanna, Ethiopia.
Insights
Indoor cooking, recent diarrhea, parental asthma, and lack of PCV vaccination are key risk factors for pneumonia in children under five. These findings highlight critical areas for intervention to reduce childhood pneumonia incidence.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Infectious Diseases
Background:
- Pneumonia is a leading cause of mortality in children under five globally, representing a significant public health challenge.
- Lower respiratory tract infections (RTIs), particularly pneumonia, contribute substantially to morbidity and mortality worldwide, with Streptococcus pneumoniae being a major pathogen.
- Understanding specific risk factors in vulnerable populations is crucial for developing targeted prevention and control strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and analyze the risk factors associated with pneumonia in children under five years old attending outpatient departments in public hospitals in Hadiya Zone, Ethiopia.
- To provide data that can inform public health interventions aimed at reducing the burden of childhood pneumonia in the region.
Main Methods:
- An institution-based unmatched case-control study was conducted involving 160 cases (children with pneumonia) and 321 controls (children without pneumonia) aged 2-59 months.
- Data were collected and analyzed using Epi-Data version 4.6 and SPSS 27, employing bivariable and multivariable logistic regression to determine significant risk factors (p-value ≤ 0.05).
Main Results:
- Key risk factors identified include indoor cooking (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR]: 2.75, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.66, 4.58), a history of diarrhea in the preceding two weeks (AOR: 6.37, 95% CI: 3.63, 11.2), and a family history of parental asthma (AOR: 4.32, 95% CI: 2.31, 8.05).
- Additionally, children who did not receive the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) during infancy showed an increased risk (AOR: 2.09, 95% CI: 1.24, 3.51).
Conclusions:
- Pneumonia risk in under-five children is significantly influenced by household environmental factors (indoor cooking), recent health status (diarrhea), family medical history (parental asthma), and vaccination status (PCV).
- These identified factors are critical for managing and preventing pneumonia in young children, underscoring the need for targeted public health interventions and improved vaccination coverage.
Introduction:
Pneumonia is an inflammation of the air sacs in the lungs in response to an injury, such as infection. When the lungs are also involved, it could be referred to as bronchopneumonia. It can be one area of the lung or several areas. According to international data, pneumonia has been the main cause of lower respiratory tract infection (RTI)-related morbidity and mortality. With an anticipated 505,000 deaths worldwide in 2021 (range from 454,000 to 555,000), S. pneumonia was the cause of the greatest percentage of all age-lower RTI-related deaths.
Objective:
To identify risk factors of pneumonia among under-five children who visit under-five OPD in Hadiya Zone public hospitals Central Ethiopia 2024.
Method:
An institution-based unmatched case-control research design was used in Hadiya zone public hospitals, with 160 cases and 321 controls of children aged 2-59 months included in the sample. The cases were children with pneumonia, while the controls did not have pneumonia. Ethical clearance was obtained. Data was entered using Epi-Data version 4.6 and analyses using SPSS 27 statistical software. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify determinant factors. Statistical significance was declared at a p-value ≤ 0.05 with adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).
Result:
Place of cooking (AOR: 2.75, 95%CI: 1.66, 4.58), History of Diarrhea in the past 2 weeks (AOR: 6.37, 95%CI: 3.63, 11.2), History of parental asthma in the family (AOR: 4.32, 95%CI: 2.31, 8.05), and a children received PCV vaccine during their infancy period (AOR: 2.09 95%CI: 1.24, 3.51), were found to be risk factors of under-five pneumonia.
Conclusion:
In this study, the risk of pneumonia among under-five children was significantly associated with several factors, including whether the children came from households where people cooked indoors, whether the children had experienced diarrhea in the past two weeks, whether the children came from families where parents experienced asthma, and whether the children received the PCV vaccine in infancy. These factors are of critical importance in the management of pneumonia among under-five children and therefore warrant interventions aimed at reducing the risk of pneumonia in this group of people.
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