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Objectives: To derive a model of paediatric postdischarge mortality following acute infectious illness. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: 2 hospitals in South-western Uganda. Participants: 1307 children of 6 months to 5 years of age were admitted with a proven or suspected infection. 1242 children were discharged alive and followed up 6 months following discharge. The 6-month follow-up rate was 98.3%. Interventions: None. Primary and secondary outcome measures: The primary outcome was postdischarge mortality within 6 months following the initial hospital discharge. Results: 64 children died during admission (5.0%) and 61 died within 6 months of discharge (4.9%). Of those who died following discharge, 31 (51%) occurred within the first 30 days. The final adjusted model for the prediction of postdischarge mortality included the variables mid-upper arm circumference (OR 0.95, 95% CI 0.94 to 0.97, per 1 mm increase), time since last hospitalisation (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.61 to 0.93, for each increased period of no hospitalisation), oxygen saturation (OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.93 to 0·99, per 1% increase), abnormal Blantyre Coma Scale score (OR 2.39, 95% CI 1·18 to 4.83), and HIV-positive status (OR 2.98, 95% CI 1.36 to 6.53). This model produced a receiver operating characteristic curve with an area under the curve of 0.82. With sensitivity of 80%, our model had a specificity of 66%. Approximately 35% of children would be identified as high risk (11.1% mortality risk) and the remaining would be classified as low risk (1.4% mortality risk), in a similar cohort. Conclusions: Mortality following discharge is a poorly recognised contributor to child mortality. Identification of at-risk children is critical in developing postdischarge interventions. A simple prediction tool that uses 5 easily collected variables can be used to identify children at high risk of death after discharge. Improved discharge planning and care could be provided for high-risk children.
Mbarara, a city of approximately 195 000, is the largest city in the South-western region of Uganda. This study was conducted at two hospitals in Mbarara. The Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital (MRRH) is the main referral hospital in South-western Uganda. It is a public hospital funded by the Uganda Ministry of Health. MRRH is associated with the Mbarara University of Science and Technology, and is a primary training site for its healthcare graduates. The paediatric ward admits approximately 5000 patients per year. The Holy Innocents Children’s Hospital (HICH) is a faith-based children’s hospital offering subsidised fee-for-service for outpatient and in-patient care in Mbarara. The HICH admits approximately 2500 patients per year. This was a prospective observational study conducted between March 2012 and December 2013. This study was approved by the institutional review boards at the University of British Columbia (Canada) and the Mbarara University of Science and Technology (Uganda), as well as the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology and Office of the President. This study was voluntary and written informed consent was provided by a parent or guardian of all children who were enrolled. All children aged 6 months to 5 years who were admitted with a proven or suspected infection were eligible for enrolment. The upper age limit was chosen to coincide with the under- 5 target group of the millennium development goals. The lower age limit was chosen for logistic (census enrolment with limited research staff) and statistical considerations (group homogeneity). Participants already enrolled in the study were not eligible to be enrolled during subsequent admissions. Following enrolment, a research nurse obtained and recorded clinical signs including a 1 min respiratory rate, blood pressure (automated), axillary temperature, Blantyre Coma Scale (BCS) score, and by using the Phone Oximeter,4 the 1 min photoplethysmogram (PPG), blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) and heart rate. Anthropometric data (height, weight, mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC)) were also measured and recorded. Age-dependent demographic variables collected at enrolment were converted to age-corrected z-scores according to the WHO Child Growth Standards.5 The age-corrected heart rate and respiratory rate z-scores were obtained by standardising the raw measurements using the median and SD values provided by Fleming et al.6 The age-corrected z-scores for systolic blood pressure were calculated using participants’ height, according to the procedures previously described.7 A blood sample was taken for measurement of haemoglobin, HIV and a malaria blood smear (microscopy). HIV status was determined using the national rapid diagnostic test serial algorithm.8 All positive tests on the Determine Antibody Test were confirmed by a separate test (UniGold). Children under 12 months of age with a positive test were confirmed using PCR. Haemoglobin was measured on a Beckman Coulter Ac.T Hematology Analyzer. An interview was conducted with the participant’s parent/guardian and information about previous admissions, distance from health facility, transportation costs, bed-net use, maternal education, maternal age, maternal HIV status, history of sibling deaths and drinking water safety were elicited. Participants received routine care during their hospital stay and were discharged at the discretion of the treating medical team. The discharge status of all enrolled participants was recorded as death, referral, discharged alive, and discharged against medical advice. The diagnoses made by the medical team were also recorded. On discharge, families with active telephone lines were contacted at months 2 and 4 to determine the vital status of the child. Families with no telephone access received in-person follow-up by a field officer. At approximately 6 months following discharge, all participants received in-person follow-up. In addition to postdischarge vital status, health seeking and rehospitalisations since the initial discharge were also recorded. Study data were collected and managed using REDCap electronic data capture tools hosted at the Child and Family Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada.9 REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) is a secure, web-based application designed to support data capture for research studies and provides: (1) an intuitive interface for validated data entry; (2) audit trails for tracking data manipulation and export procedures; (3) automated export procedures for seamless data downloads to common statistical packages and (4) procedures for importing data from external sources. Candidate predictor variables were derived using a two-round modified Delphi approach. Briefly, 23 experts in relevant disciplines were solicited to complete an online survey and provide feedback on an initial list of proposed predictors. Predictors were evaluated on considerations of utility as predictors, availability, cost and resource-related applicability. Experts were asked to provide additional potential variables which were then evaluated during a second round of surveys. Data was evaluated by the research team and a final list of candidate predictor variables for modelling was then determined.10 The primary outcome was postdischarge mortality at any time during the 6-month postdischarge period. For the derivation of prediction models, standard calculations of sample size do not apply since these calculations do not account for the model development process (ie, selection of variables and the optimisation to achieve specified sensitivity and specificity cut-offs). For this study, we determined the sample size needed to validate the derived model and plan to use an equal number of patients for the derivation phase. For the validation study, assuming that the derived model achieves a sensitivity of 85% with at least 50% specificity, 100 events, corresponding to a total sample of approximately 1000 live-discharges (assuming a postdischarge mortality rate of 10%), would be needed to obtain 80% power for ensuring that the lower 95% confidence limit on sensitivity will be at least 75%. Since resources are scarce, a higher sensitivity at the expense of specificity would further limit practical application of such a model. An interim analysis of the study showed that the postdischarge mortality rate would likely not exceed 5% and enrolment was stopped when 1307 participants were enrolled. All variables were assessed using univariate logistic regression to determine their level of association with the primary outcome. Continuous variables were assessed for model fit using the Hosmer-Lemeshow test.11 Missing data was imputed by the method of multivariate imputation using chained equations.12 Following univariate analysis, candidate models were generated using a stepwise selection procedure minimising Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC). This method is considered asymptotically equivalent to cross-validation and bootstrapping.13 14 All models generated in this sequence having AIC values within 10% of the lowest value were considered as reasonable candidates. The final selection of a model was judged on model parsimony (the simpler the better), availability of the predictors (with respect to minimal resources and cost), and the attained sensitivity (with at least 50% specificity). All analyses were conducted using SAS V.9.3 (Carey, North Carolina, USA) and R 3.1.3 (Vienna, Austria; http://www.R-project.org). Additional models were created using the above process but with the absence of key variables used in deriving the primary model, including a model not including any variables likely to change over the course of admission. This was done to increase application in a variety of settings were certain variables may not be available.
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