Academic Journal
Respiratory rates among rural Gambian children: a community-based cohort study
| Title: | Respiratory rates among rural Gambian children: a community-based cohort study |
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| Authors: | Polycarp Mogeni, Sharon Amima, Jennifer Gunther, Margaret Pinder, Lucy S. Tusting, Umberto D’Alessandro, Simon Cousens, Steve W. Lindsay, John Bradley |
| Source: | Scientific Reports, Vol 14, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2024) |
| Publisher Information: | Nature Portfolio, 2024. |
| Publication Year: | 2024 |
| Collection: | LCC:Medicine LCC:Science |
| Subject Terms: | Respiratory rate, Centile charts, Nutrition, Ambient temperature, Medicine, Science |
| More Details: | Abstract Normal respiratory rates (RR) for children under five in the tropics are well-documented, but data for older children are limited. This study tracked RR changes with age and examined associations with nutritional status and environmental factors. We monitored rural Gambian children aged 6 months to 14 years, recording RR during home visits twice weekly over two rainy seasons. Using a generalized additive model, we constructed RR reference curves, and a linear mixed-effect model identified factors influencing RR. A total of 830 children provided 67,512 RR measurements. Their median age was 6.07 years (interquartile range 4.21–8.55) and 400 (48.2%) were female. Age, stunting, ambient temperature, and time of RR measurement were independent predictors of respiratory rate. Strikingly, children showing signs of illness had greater variability in repeat RR measurements. We constructed a RR reference chart for children aged one to 13 years and proposed a cutoff of > 26 breaths/min for raised RR among children aged > 5 years bridging an important gap in this age group. Although the time of data collection, nutritional status, and ambient temperature were predictors of RR, their effect size is not clinically significant enough to warrant a change in the current WHO guidelines owing to the prevailing uncertainty in the measurement of RR. The finding that RRs between repeat measurements were more variable among children with signs of illness suggests that a single RR measurement may be inadequate to reliably assess the status of sick children—a population in which accurate diagnosis is essential to enable targeted interventions with lifesaving treatment. |
| Document Type: | article |
| File Description: | electronic resource |
| Language: | English |
| ISSN: | 2045-2322 54591945 |
| Relation: | https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322 |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41598-024-70796-7 |
| Access URL: | https://doaj.org/article/15b2130cf8d54591945e3a29be849534 |
| Accession Number: | edsdoj.15b2130cf8d54591945e3a29be849534 |
| Database: | Directory of Open Access Journals |
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| ISSN: | 20452322 54591945 |
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| DOI: | 10.1038/s41598-024-70796-7 |
| Published in: | Scientific Reports |
| Language: | English |