Impaired Gas Exchange: Prognostic Clinical Indicators of Short-Term Survival in Children with Acute Respiratory Infection.

Purpose: To establish prognostic indicators of survival for impaired gas exchange (IGE) (00030).

Methods: Secondary analysis of data from an open prospective cohort developed with a group of 136 children with acute respiratory infection (ARI).

Findings: On Day 1, IGE (00030) was present in 42.6% of the sample. New cases arose until the last day of evaluation. With regards to defining characteristics, only hypoxemia and abnormal skin color were associated with a higher risk of developing diagnosis.

Conclusions: Children with ARI who exhibit hypoxemia and abnormal skin color had a worse prognosis for IGE (00030).

Implications For Nurse Practice: Nurses can use the research findings as a predictive marker of the evolution of the patient's health status.