Clinical and laboratory correlates of the outcome of cerebral malaria in the Philippines.

Abstract

The sociodemographic profile of cerebral malaria (CM; caused by Plasmodium falciparum) patients in the Philippines was investigated and clinical and laboratory factors which correlate with mortality were identified. Records of 97 CM cases admitted to hospital between 1990 and 1995 were reviewed. Data on sociodemographic factors, clinical aspects, laboratory findings and drugs given during hospitalization were obtained. Associations of these variables with mortality were examined by generating 2-way tables for qualitative variables and computing descriptive statistics for quantitative variables. The results showed that CM was more common among males and young adults who comprise the economically productive age group (21-40 years) and who are engaged in slash and burn agriculture. Using bivariate analysis, factors that correlated with mortality included age, residence, back/abdominal pain, fever, coma, dyspnoea, diastolic blood pressure (BP), white blood cell (WBC), neutrophil and lymphocyte counts, trophozoite count and quinine infusion. Logistic regression analysis showed that only back/abdominal pain, coma, dyspnoea, diastolic BP and trophozoite count were statistically significant.