Frequency Of Severe Pneumonia In Children, According To IMNCI Standards At Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Objectives: We conducted this study to observe the prevalence of severe pneumonia cases according to the integrated management of neonatal and childhood illness (IMNCI) classification. Furthermore, we aimed to explore the associated risk factors of severe pneumonia that enhances the morbidity and mortality ratio.

Study design: A cross-sectional study

Place and Duration: This study was conducted at  Holyfamily Hospital Rawalpindi from June 2021 to June 2022.

Methodology: All the children between the age of 2 to 59 months admitted to our wards were recruited for pneumonia screening. Pneumonia cases were identified on the behalf of fast breathing, or tachypnea. We used the definition of the World health organization to determine the breathing rate and chest indrawing.  All the collected data were entered into excel sheets for statistical analysis. We analyzed our data using the Student package for Social Science (SPSS) 23.0. Pearson correlation and Chi-square test were used to measure the association between dependent risk factors and severe pneumonia outcomes.

Results: This one-year study recruited 270 cases of pneumonia with a mean age of 18.5 ± 17.5 months at the territory care hospital. Sixty percent of cases were male while forty percent were female. Out of these 270 cases, 172 were diagnosed with severe pneumonia according to the IMNCI classification. We observed premature birth as the major birth-related risk factor while pediatric age and residence were the major socio-demographic factors. Lack of vitamin A supplements, non-exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months, congenital heart disease, incomplete vaccination, measles, and home treatment were also reported as important reasons for severe pneumonia.

Conclusion:In this study the total prevalence of severe pneumonia was reported as 63.7%.Socio-economic conditions and birth outcomes were also contributing a lot to the mortality ratio. Therefore, it is necessary to provide basic immune vaccination to all children, and risk factors should be managed to overcome morbidity.