Socio-demographic and clinical factors predicting time to presentation for children with pneumonia in Ilorin, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Pneumonia is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality in children, and the time to presentation is a recognized contributor towards disease severity and outcome.

Objectives: The current study aimed to explore the influence of some socio-demographic and clinical factors in children with pneumonia on the time to presentation at a health facility in Ilorin, North Central Nigeria.

Materials and method: A prospective cross-sectional study of 167 children with pneumonia was done. The duration of the various symptoms and first presentation to a health facility was obtained. Time to presentation was categorized as 0–2 days (early), 3–5 days (intermediate) and greater than five days (late). Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to identify significant predictors of either early or intermediate presentation compared with late presentation. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: Fifty-one (30.5%) children with pneumonia had an early presentation, 73 (43.7%) had intermediate presentation and 43 (25.7%) were late in presentation. Predictors of early presentation were younger age (OR 0.96, 95%CI 0.93–0.99), higher respiratory rates (OR 1.03, 95%CI 1.01–1.06) and bronchopneumonia (OR 6.93, 95%CI 1.52–31.63). Predictors of intermediate presentation were families with few number of children (OR 0.73, 95%CI 0.57–0.92) and bronchopneumonia (OR 3.41, 95%C.I. 1.02–11.38).

Conclusion: Infancy and families with few children are socio-demographic features that are likely to determine early-to-intermediate presentation of children with pneumonia while high respiratory rates and bronchopneumonia are disease related factors that predict early presentation.

Keywords: Socio-demographic, Children, Pneumonia, Time to presentation, Nigeria