Factors associated with the occurrence of COVID-19 in the pediatric population in hospital settings: a case-control study.
Denise Desconsi, Juliane Pagliari Araujo, Marcela Demitto Furtado and 2 others
PMID 41313640WHAT IT FOUND
Among hospitalized children, emergency or intensive care admission, corticosteroid use, runny nose and comorbidities were linked to a positive COVID-19 test.
These associations did not prove cause.
Key findings
01In adjusted analysis, emergency room admission was associated with 2.78 times higher odds of COVID-19 diagnosis, and ICU admission with 2.52 times higher odds, compared with pediatric ward.
02In adjusted analysis, corticosteroid use was associated with 3.37 times higher odds and runny nose with 2.25 times higher odds of COVID-19 diagnosis.
03After adjustment, comorbidities were associated with 1.86 times higher odds of COVID-19 diagnosis.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was retrospective and based on medical records, so researchers could not observe the children directly. It was done at one teaching hospital, so the pattern may not apply to other settings. The study did not blind the control group patients to the principal investigator. Incomplete information in the database led to inconsistency and data exclusion. The study looked for associations, not causes, and some adjusted results differed from bivariate results.
Declared interests
The work was supported by CAPES, a Brazilian public research funding agency, with Funding Code 001. No commercial sponsor or author conflict is stated in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the higher odds for corticosteroid use, runny nose, comorbidities or emergency or ICU admission as proof that those factors caused COVID-19. This was a retrospective single hospital case-control study of records, and it can only show associations.