Hospitalizations due to pneumonia: The influence of socioeconomic and pregnancy factors in a cohort of children in Southern Brazil

Objective To investigate the influence of socioeconomic and gestational factors on admission due to pneumonia in the post-neonatal period. Methodology Cohort. Children born in the city Pelotas, Brazil, in 1993. Cases were children admitted to hospital for 24 hours or more, between the ages of 28 and 364 days, with a diagnosis of pneumonia. Results Of the 5,304 children in the cohort, 152 (2.9%) were hospitalized with pneumonia. The positive preditive value of the clinical diagnosis compared to the radiological assessment was 76%. Analysis by conditional logistic regression showed that social class and maternal schooling were strongly inversely associated with pneumonia. Children of adolescent mothers were twice as likely to be admitted. The relative risk for children whose mothers were of parity three or greater was 2.8 relative to primiparae. Maternal weight gain during pregnancy of less than 10 kg was associated with a 40% increase in risk. Conclusion Socioeconomic factors were important determinants of pneumonia admissions. Maternal age, parity and weight gain were also significant risk factors.