Validation and development of a clinical prediction rule in clinically suspected community-acquired pneumonia.

Objectives: To develop a mathematical model to predict the probability of having community-acquired pneumonia and to evaluate an already developed prediction rule that has not been validated in a clinical scenario.

Methods: Children who presented with fever and had presumptive clinical diagnosis of pneumonia were evaluated in 4 institutions of different complexity during 1 year. The variables assessed were sex, age, respiratory rate, days with fever, maximum body temperature, presence of tachypnea, cough, chest pain, intercostal retraction, nasal flaring, abdominal pain, vomiting, grunting, rales, decreased breath sounds, wheezing, fatigue, loss of appetite, loss of sleep, and season of the year.