Objectives:

Describe clinical characteristics and environmental partner of children under 6 months hospitalized for low acute respiratory infection (ALRI) and explore predictors of severity.

Methodology:

Observational, transversal, case-control study between 1/5/14 - 5/8/14. Cases (severe ALRI): Need for high flow oxygen and/or ventilator support. Controls (Alri not severe): hospitalized in moderate care. Clinical histories were reviewed and the parents were interviewed. Children with intrahospital respiratory infection and comorbidity were excluded.

Variables:

Age, sex, TAL score, maternal education, overcrowding, smoking, prematurity, number of pre-admission consultations, delay in consultation, etiologic diagnosis of income. Data processing: SPSS software.

Results:

396 Children, 167 cases, 229 controls. Middle age (days) cases: 77, controls: 76. Exploring binary Logistic regression models to explain the presence of severe ALRI were statistically significant predictors: number of previous consultations (P= 0.035), etiologic diagnosis of admission (P= 0.003). The model was not satisfactory because it only managed to explain 4.6% of the total variability.

Conclusions:

Exploring different statistical models did not find a satisfactory, the total variability explained by the model is very low. It is emphasized that the model did not enter environmental factors considered “a priori” relevant (habit of smoking, overcrowding) nor the rest of the variables studied: schooling and maternal age, nutritional status to income, prematurity and factors behavioral as the delay in the consultation. Diagnosis of admission and number of pre-admission consultations were significant. Future studies, with more representative samples, are necessary to deepen the knowledge of the predictive factors of gravity.

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