Prevalence of persistent pneumonia among severe pneumonia and nutritional status as its associated risk factor: A prospective observational study among under-five children.

Background: Malnourishment is a risk factor for persistent pneumonia among under-five children with severe pneumonia. This study aims to determine the prevalence of persistent pneumonia and the association between nutritional status and pneumonia severity in children under 5 years of age.

Methodology: A prospective observational hospital-based study was conducted in the Department of Paediatrics, King George's Medical University (KGMU) from May 2019 to April 2020 among children aged 1 month to 5 years admitted with a diagnosis of severe pneumonia. An anthropometric assessment along with general and systemic examination was conducted. Weight for age, height for age and weight for height were calculated to assess the nutritional status. Children with severe pneumonia were followed for 4-6 weeks to assess the prevalence of persistent pneumonia.

Results: The prevalence of persistent pneumonia was 6.8%, while 32 (31.1%) and 64 (62.1%) patients had recurrent and severe pneumonia, respectively. No statistically significant distribution was observed in age, sex, residential area, parent's education or occupation of the child. The statistically significant distribution was seen on assessing nutritional status based on weight for age, height for age and weight for height ( value- 0.001, 0.001, 0.0001). Those with weight for age ≤ 3SD were anaemics and up to 1 year of age had 5.21, 3.52 and 2.83 times more odds of having persistent pneumonia, respectively.

Conclusion: The prevalence of persistent pneumonia among children less than 5 years of age was 6.8%. Malnutrition can be considered a major determinant of persistent pneumonia among children under 5 years of age.