ArticleBMC pediatrics2014
Clinical outcomes of children with acute asthma and pneumonia in Mulago hospital, Uganda: a prospective study.
Article in BMC pediatrics, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Hypoxaemia and mortality in children with lower respiratory infection in low-income and middle-income countries: systematic review and meta-analysis.The Lancet. Global health · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- What are the risk factors for death among children with pneumonia in low- and middle-income countries? A systematic review.Journal of global health · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The Effect of Anemia on Mortality in Children Hospitalized with Severe Pneumonia in Uganda.The Journal of pediatrics · 2026Article
- Risk factors associated with disease severity among children hospitalised with community-acquired pneumonia in Angola.Journal of global health · 2026Observational
- Neutrophil Percentage-to-Albumin Ratio: Unveiling a New Perspective on Mortality Risk in Intensive Care Unit Asthma Patients-A Retrospective Cohort Study.Mediators of inflammation · 2026Article
- Association between protein intake, serum albumin and blood eosinophil in US asthmatic adults.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Article
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of the correlation between cough variant asthma and mycoplasma pneumonia in children.Archives of medical science : AMS · 2024Review
- Associations of early-life factors and indoor environmental exposure with asthma among children: a case-control study in Chongqing, China.World journal of pediatrics : WJP · 2022Article
- Estimated Cost-effectiveness of Solar-Powered Oxygen Delivery for Pneumonia in Young Children in Low-Resource Settings.JAMA network open · 2021Article
- A worldwide charter for all children with asthma.Pediatric pulmonology · 2020Article
- Morbidity and mortality of children aged 2-59 months admitted in the Tanzania Lake Zone's public hospitals: a cross-sectional study.BMC research notes · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLittle attention has been paid to asthma in 'under-fives' in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 'under-fives', acute asthma and pneumonia have similar clinical presentation and most children with acute respiratory symptoms are diagnosed with pneumonia according to the WHO criteria. The mortality associated with acute respiratory diseases in Uganda is high but improving, dropping from 24% in 2004 to 11.9% in 2012. We describe the immediate clinical outcomes of children with acute asthma and pneumonia and document the factors associated with prolonged hospitalization and mortality.
methodsWe enrolled 614 children aged 2 to 59 months with acute respiratory symptoms presenting at the emergency paediatric unit of Mulago hospital. Clinical histories, physical examination, blood and radiological tests were done. Children with asthma and bronchiolitis were collectively referred to as 'Asthma syndrome'. Hospitalized children were monitored every 12 hours for a maximum of 7 days. Survival analysis was done to compare outcome of children with asthma and pneumonia. Cox regression analysis was done to determine factors associated with prolonged hospitalization and mortality.
resultsOverall mortality was 3.6%. The highest case fatality was due to pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (2/4) and pulmonary tuberculosis (2/7). None of the children with asthma syndrome died. Children with 'asthma syndrome' had a significantly shorter hospital stay compared to those with pneumonia (p<0.001). Factors independently associated with mortality included hypoxemia (HR = 10.7, 95% CI 1.4- 81.1) and severe malnutrition (HR = 5.7, 95% CI 2.1- 15.8). Factors independently associated with prolonged hospitalization among children with asthma syndrome included age less than 12 months (RR = 1.2, 95% CI 1.0-1.4), hypoxemia (RR = 1.4, 95% CI 1.2-1.7), and severe malnutrition (RR = 1.5 95% CI 1.3-1.8). Similar factors were associated with long duration of hospital stay among children with pneumonia.
conclusionThis study identified a sharp decline in acute respiratory mortality compared to the previous studies in Mulago hospital. This may be related to focus on and treatment of asthma in this study, and will be analysed in a later study. Bacterial pneumonia is still associated with high case fatality. Hypoxemia, severe malnutrition, and being an infant were associated with poor prognosis among children with acute asthma and pneumonia and need to be addressed in the management protocols.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.