Risk Factors for Severe Bronchiolitis in Children admitted at Birat Medical College Teaching Hospital.

Abstract

Background Bronchiolitis is the most common cause of hospitalization in infants under the age of 2 years. There are various risk factors associated with severe disease. Therefore, identifying risk factors of severe bronchiolitis and acting promptly is foremost to avoid its adverse outcome. Objective To find out the socio-demographic, clinical profile and risk factors associated with severe bronchiolitis. Method This was hospital based cross-sectional study of data of children between 3 months to 2 years admitted in the Department of Pediatrics with a clinical diagnosis of bronchiolitis from September 2023 to May 2024. Various factors were recorded to identify risk factors for severe bronchiolitis. Result Ninety children were included in the study with a majority of age group 3 to12 months (76%) and male to female ratio of 1.8. The most common symptoms were cough (85%), fever (76%), blocked nose (56%) and difficulty in breathing (35%). On applying bivariate analysis, age group, lack of exclusive breast feeding, having siblings and low maternal literacy were significant risk factors whereas on applying multivariate analysis, were found significant associations between having siblings (Adjusted Odd Ratio=5.555, 95% Confidence Interval=1.332-23.169, p value= 0.019) and low maternal literacy (Adjusted Odd Ratio =0.233, 95% Confidence Interval =0.063-0.859, p value= 0.002) for severe bronchiolitis. Conclusion In our study, cough and fever were the most common symptoms of bronchiolitis. Having siblings and low maternal literacy were the significant risk factors for severe bronchiolitis.