Bronquiolitis en una Zona de Salud urbana: Factores demográficos y medioambientales

Abstract

Objective. To determine what factors effect the development of bronchiolitis and can be modified in daily clinical practice. Study design. Case-control study. Setting. Primary care Participants. 34 infants (1-24 months) diagnosed with bronchiolitis between October 2008 and April 2009. A control group of 32 infants who did not have bronchiolitis. Results. Fifty percent of infants were less than 7 months old and predominantly male (19). The bivariate analysis did not reveal any significant differences between the patients and controls as regards: gestational age, birth weight, maternal age, attending day-care centres, smoking in the home. There was underlying disease in 47% of patients compared to 13% of controls (p=0.002). Forty five percent of the patients were not lactating compared to 15.6% of controls (p= 0.045). The independence of these variables was confirmed by logistic regression analysis with OR values: 0.25 (95% CI: 0.07-0.94), 4.53 (95% CI: 1.12-18.32), 11.1 (95% CI: 1.22-100.52) for lactating, underlying disease and previous hospital stays, respectively. Conclusions. Breast-feeding is clearly a protective factor. Encouraging breast-feeding is one of the most effective actions in preventing bronchiolitis. The presence of an underlying disease or previous hospital stays predisposes infants to developing bronchiolitis and it is therefore essential to closely monitor infants at risk in the epidemic periods.