Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31565146›Full record

ArticleThe Pan African medical journal2019

Clinical characteristics associated with increased resource utilization of hospitalized children under 5 years with acute gastroenteritis at a tertiary hospital in the northern region of Ghana: a retrospective study.

Alhassan Abdul-Mumin, Sean Ervin, Elizabeth Eby Halvorson

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Article in The Pan African medical journal, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

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2citing papers in PubMed
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3 · Its place in the literature

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2 citing papers in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Alhassan Abdul-MuminDepartment of Pediatrics and Child Health, University for Development Studies, School of Medicine and Health Sciences and Tamale Teaching Hospital, Tamale, Northern Region, Ghana.
Sean ErvinDepartment of Pediatrics, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston Salem, NC 27157 USA.
Elizabeth Eby HalvorsonDepartment of Pediatrics, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston Salem, NC 27157 USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionAcute gastroenteritis (AGE) is a leading cause of mortality in children in developing countries. Management of AGE consumes medical resources, including antibiotics and intra-venous fluids, but factors affecting resource utilization in the management of AGE are under-studied. We hope to identify clinical predictors of resource utilization in AGE.

methodsWe performed a retrospective chart review of patients 1-60 months of age admitted to a tertiary hospital in Northern Ghana between January 2013 and December 2014 with an admitting diagnosis of AGE. We collected data on patient demographics, presenting symptoms, and subsequent management. Our primary outcome was prolonged hospital length of stay, defined as >4 days. Secondary outcomes included other measures of resource utilization, such as use of antibiotics, antimalarials and intravenous fluids. Demographic and clinical characteristics were compared between groups with Pearson chi square test for categorical variables and ANOVA for continuous variables. Multivariable logistic regression modeling for each outcome included all variables found to be significant in the bivariate analysis.

resultsWe reviewed charts for 473 patients admitted for AGE during this timeframe. 264 (56%) were male, median age was 12 months. 448 (95%) received antibiotics, 396 (84%) received antimalarials and 365 (77.2%) received intravenous fluids. 167 (35.3%) had prolonged LOS >4 days. Following multiple logistic regression analysis, clinical features associated with prolonged LOS included fever duration (OR 2.87, 95% CI 2.28-3.61 per 1-day increase), mild (OR 2.39, 95% CI 1.12-5.08) or moderate (OR 3.13, 95% CI 1.57-6.21) dehydration (compared to none) and symptom duration (OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.01-1.27 per 1-day increase).

conclusionDehydration and duration of symptoms prior to presentation predict prolonged hospital LOS in young children with AGE in Northern Ghana.

Indexed as

Acute DiseaseAnti-Bacterial AgentsAntimalarialsChild, PreschoolDehydrationFemaleFeverFluid TherapyGastroenteritisGhanaHealth ResourcesHospitalizationHumansInfantLength of StayLogistic ModelsAnti-Bacterial AgentsAntimalarialsAcute gastroenteritislength of staylow resource settingresource utilization

Identifiers

PMID31565146
PMCPMC6756856

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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.