Prevalence of pneumonia and risk factors of pneumonia mortality among children under five years.

Abstract

Background

Pneumonia remains the foremost cause of death in children under 5 years of age especially in sub-Saharan Africa killing nearly 1 million annually.

Aim

Identify pneumonia prevalence, mortality rate and associated factors among children under five admitted to Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Ghana.

Methods

Using a prospective cross-sectional study method, a consecutive sample of 157 children under 5 admitted to the KATH for pneumonia from June to August 2016 was selected. A structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data from their caregivers and secondary data from the patient record using a structured data extraction form. Continuous and categorical variables were described and chi-square test employed to determine the associated factors of pneumonia mortality. Multivariate logistics regression model was used to test for the strength of the association to unearth the risk factors of pneumonia mortality.

Results

The study found a prevalence of pneumonia of 18.40% with a mortality rate of 12.74%. Pneumonia mortality was found to be associated with maternal education (p<0.001), occupation (p=0.01), income (p=0.02), pneumonia severity (p<0.001) and number of rooms occupied by a household (p=0.01). In multivariate regression, severe pneumonia increased the odds of pneumonia mortality (OR=18.23, 95% CI= 4.37-76.10, p<0.001). However, maternal education showed reduced likelihood of pneumonia mortality (OR=0.59, 95% CI= 0.36-0.97, p=0.039). 

Conclusion

Pneumonia places a high burden on the health of children under five years admitted to KATH. Health workers need to sensitize caregivers on the signs and symptoms of pneumonia to aid early detection and reporting which could reduce mortality.