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

NCT07279675 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: AUC-PEDE-CAP-2025
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 67
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief 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.

Conditions

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

Keywords

Community-acquired pneumonia; Clinical risk factors; Hypoxemia

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Association of Severity Scores with Clinical Outcomes

  The primary outcome will be the correlation coefficient (r value) between the Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) severity score and each clinical outcome. The clinical outcomes will include: Length of hospital stay (days) Oxygen requirement (L/min) ICU admission (yes/no) Occurrence of complications (yes/no) Mortality (yes/no)

  14 days from enrollment (typical hospital stay and outpatient follow-up)

• Severity of Community-Acquired Pneumonia Assessed by the Respiratory Index of Severity in Children (RISC)

  CAP severity will be assessed using the Respiratory Index of Severity in Children (RISC) score. The RISC score ranges from 0 to 6, with higher scores indicating more severe disease.

  4 days from enrollment (typical hospital stay and outpatient follow-up)

Study Arms (1)

Children With Community-Acquired Pneumonia

This cohort includes all children aged 1 month to 5 years diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) who present to the pediatric emergency department or are admitted to the pediatric wards of Assiut University Children Hospital during the study period (October 2025 - October 2026). All participants will undergo systematic assessment of severity using clinical predictors, laboratory tests, radiological imaging, and the Respiratory Index of Severity in Children (RISC) score.

Other: Assessment of Pneumonia Severity

Interventions

Assessment of Pneumonia Severity OTHER

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

Children With Community-Acquired Pneumonia

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 1 Month - 5 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Children aged 1 month to 5 years of both sexes diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) presenting to the pediatric emergency department or admitted to pediatric wards at Assiut University Children's Hospital during the study period (October 2025 - October 2026). Children with hospital-acquired pneumonia, known immunodeficiency, chronic respiratory diseases, or congenital lung malformations are excluded.

You may qualify if:

• Children aged 1 month to 5 years.
• Children of both sexes
• Onset of illness in the community, not more than 48 hours after hospital admission.

You may not qualify if:

• Children below 1 month, as neonatal pneumonia differs in pathology and management from CAP.
• Children with hospital-acquired pneumonia
• Known primary or secondary immunodeficiency
• Children with chronic respiratory diseases (as cystic fibrosis, bronchiectasis) or congenital lung malformations.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Assiut University: lead

Related Publications (4)

• Serin O, Akbasli IT, Cetin SB, Koseoglu B, Deveci AF, Ugur MZ, Ozsurekci Y. Predicting Escalation of Care for Childhood Pneumonia Using Machine Learning: Retrospective Analysis and Model Development. JMIRx Med. 2025 Mar 4;6:e57719. doi: 10.2196/57719.

  PMID: 40036666 BACKGROUND

• Kapoor A, Awasthi S, Kumar Yadav K. Predicting Mortality and Use of RISC Scoring System in Hospitalized Under-Five Children Due to WHO Defined Severe Community Acquired Pneumonia. J Trop Pediatr. 2022 Jun 6;68(4):fmac050. doi: 10.1093/tropej/fmac050.

  PMID: 35727140 BACKGROUND

• Anteneh ZA, Arega HE, Mihretie KM. Validation of risk prediction for outcomes of severe community-acquired pneumonia among under-five children in Amhara region, Northwest Ethiopia. PLoS One. 2023 Feb 15;18(2):e0281209. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0281209. eCollection 2023.

  PMID: 36791115 BACKGROUND

• O. Shukla, N. Rathwa, and L. Mude, "Assessment of severity of community acquired pneumonia by paediatric infectious diseases society and clinical and radiological profile in 0-5 year age group," 2024, Accessed: Sep. 17, 2025.

  BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Community-Acquired Pneumonia; Hypoxia

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Community-Acquired Infections; Infections; Pneumonia; Respiratory Tract Infections; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Signs and Symptoms, Respiratory; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Central Study Contacts

Esraa Mohamed Hassan, resident

CONTACT

01004231328; esraamhassaan7@gmail.com

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: OTHER
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Resident, Pediatrics

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 27, 2025
• First Posted: December 12, 2025
• Study Start: December 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 1, 2027
• Last Updated: December 12, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share