NCT07279675

Clinical Predictors of Severity in Pediatric Community-Acquired Pneumonia at Assiut University Children's Hospital

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 67 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Assiut University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 1 Month – 5 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This study aims to identify the clinical factors that predict the severity of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in pediatric patients. Children admitted to Assiut University Children's Hospital with a diagnosis of CAP will be evaluated through clinical examination, vital signs, laboratory investigations, and radiological findings. The study focuses on determining which clinical features are associated with more severe disease, higher need for oxygen therapy, intensive care admission, or complications. Understanding these predictors may help clinicians recognize severe cases earlier and improve patient management and outcomes.

Detailed description

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is one of the most common causes of morbidity and hospitalization among children worldwide. Early recognition of severe cases is essential for timely intervention. However, clinical predictors of severity in pediatric CAP vary across populations, and there is a need for locally applicable evidence to guide clinical decision-making. This observational cross-sectional study will enroll pediatric patients presenting with community-acquired pneumonia to Assiut University Children's Hospital. The diagnosis of CAP will be established based on clinical assessment and radiological confirmation. For each patient, demographic data, presenting symptoms, physical examination findings, vital signs, laboratory investigations, and radiological features will be recorded systematically according to the study protocol. The primary objective of this study is to identify the clinical and laboratory predictors that are significantly associated with severe pneumonia. Severity will be assessed based on predefined criteria, including oxygen requirement, respiratory distress indicators, complications, and need for intensive care admission. Secondary objectives include describing the distribution of severity levels among the enrolled patients and assessing the relationship between individual risk factors and disease outcomes. The results of this study are expected to provide clinically relevant predictors that can support early identification of severe CAP in children, improve triage decisions, and optimize treatment strategies within similar healthcare settings.

Conditions

• Community-Acquired Pneumonia
• Pediatric Pneumonia
• Lower Respiratory Tract Infection

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Assessment of Pneumonia Severity	Participants undergo structured evaluation for pneumonia severity, including: Clinical predictors (respiratory rate, chest indrawing, hypoxemia, feeding difficulty, mental status, comorbidities) Laboratory markers (complete blood count, RDW, CRP, HCO₃-) Radiological assessment (chest X-ray, CT if indicated) Calculation of RISC score

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-12-01
• Primary completion: 2026-12-01
• Completion: 2027-01-01
• First posted: 2025-12-12
• Last updated: 2025-12-12