The Severity of Pneumonia and its Association with Environmental Factors among Children Under 5 Years Old in Wasit Governorate Hospitals, Iraq
Mortadha Hameed Kreeb Al-Dalfi, Shrouk Abdulrazak Hassan Al. Ibraheem, Ali Kadhim Qasim Al-RubayeAbstract
Background:
Pneumonia is the leading infectious cause of death among children under 5 years old globally.
Objective:
The study aims to determine environmental factors associated with the severity of pneumonia among children under five years old in Wasit Governorate.
Materials and Methods:
Cross-sectional study and convenience sampling (non-probability) were conducted among 477 children admitted to Wasit governorate hospitals, conducted from October 2022 to June 2023. Through questionnaires, data were collected and analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics.
Results:
The results showed that the participants’ distribution according to the pneumonia severity was the majority of children included in the study suffered from pneumonia, 81%. The children at risk of developing pneumonia were within the families that used reverse osmosis tank water as their primary source of drinking water 64.8%. And which used gas as the primary source for cooking 99.2%. They did not have a separate kitchen from the main house 79.7%. In addition, 55.1% of their fathers smoked, and 22.6% smoked in the same room where the child sleeps.
Conclusions:
This study concludes that pneumonia was the most common diagnosis at admission. However, among the risk factors studied, there was no direct relationship between these factors and the severity of pneumonia in children.