Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40632721›Full record

ArticlePloS one2025

Exposure to pollutants for household cooking and lighting and pediatric post-discharge mortality following a severe infection in Uganda.

Gurvir S Dhutt, Cherri Zhang, Elias Kumbakumba, Abner Tagoola, Peter Moschovis, Stephen Businge, Niranjan Kissoon, Nathan Kenya Mugisha, Jerome Kabakyenga, Matthew O Wiens

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Gurvir S DhuttInstitute for Global Health, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9901-0211
Cherri ZhangInstitute for Global Health, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Elias KumbakumbaDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda.
Abner TagoolaDepartment of Paediatrics, Jinja Regional Referral Hospital, Jinja City, Uganda.
Peter MoschovisDivision of Global Health, Massachusetts General Research Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Stephen BusingeHoly Innocents Children's Hospital, Mbarara, Uganda.
Niranjan KissoonInstitute for Global Health, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Nathan Kenya MugishaWalimu, Kampala, Uganda.
Jerome KabakyengaMaternal Newborn and Child Health Institute, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda.
Matthew O WiensInstitute for Global Health, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3287-5181

Funding

The effect of household air pollution on lung function growth in infants with pneumonia in sub-Saharan Africa.K23ES030399 · NIEHS · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI MOSCHOVIS, PETER P · 2019 to 2024
$1.1M
Optimizing air purification strategies to reduce household PM2.5 exposure in UgandaR21ES036797 · NIEHS · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI MOSCHOVIS, PETER P · 2024 to 2025
$474k
NIEHS NIH HHS K23 ES030399NIEHS NIH HHS R21 ES036797
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundParticulate matter from household air pollution (HAP) is linked to half of all lower respiratory infection deaths among children under 5 years of age. In rural Uganda, similar number of children die 6-months post discharge as during hospitalization for severe infections. However, it is unclear whether exposure to HAP contributes to poor health and death after discharge. We investigated the association between cooking and household lighting practices and mortality 6-months post-discharge among children under 5 years of age treated for severe infection in rural Uganda.

methodsWe conducted a secondary analysis of data from observational cohort studies, conducted between July 2017 to July 2021, among 6,955 children 0 to 5 years admitted to one of six Ugandan hospitals for a severe infectious illness. Clinical signs and symptoms, sociodemographic variables, and mortality up to 6-months post-discharge was collected for all participants, and follow-up rates were >95%. Exposure variables included type of cooking fuel used, location of cooking (e.g. indoors, outdoors), and primary source of household lighting. We assessed post-discharge mortality using simple and multivariate Poisson regression.

resultsThe unadjusted risk ratio of 6-month post-discharge mortality by dual or single exposure to pollutant fuel sources for cooking indoors and household lighting, when compared to minimal exposure, was 1.57 (95%CI 1.17, 2.11) and 1.20 (95%CI 0.94, 1.54), respectively. Adjusting for age, sex, distance to hospital, maternal education, and maternal HIV status, the adjusted risk ratios for dual and single exposure became 1.30 (95%CI 0.96, 1.76] and 1.08 (95%CI 0.84, 1.38). There was no significant interaction between exposure and age, sex, maternal education, or anemia status. DISCUSSION: This analysis did not find a statistically significant association between HAP and 6-month post-discharge mortality. However, HAP cannot be ruled out as a contributor in this population where malnutrition, comorbidities and sociodemographic vulnerabilities are common.

Indexed as

Air Pollution, IndoorCookingEnvironmental ExposureLightingRespiratory Tract InfectionsChild, PreschoolFamily CharacteristicsFemaleHumansInfantInfant, NewbornMaleParticulate MatterPatient DischargeRural PopulationUgandaParticulate Matter

Identifiers

PMID40632721
PMCPMC12240310

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.