Fatores individuais e climáticos associados à infecção respiratória aguda em crianças colombianas

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the association between acute respiratory infection recall (ARI-recall) and individual and environmental factors such as climate, precipitation, and altitude above sea level in Colombian children. A secondary analysis of 11,483 Colombian children, whose mothers were interviewed in the 2010 National Demographic and Health Survey, was carried out. The outcome variable was the mother’s or caregiver’s ARIrecall. The independent variables were expressed at individual, cluster, and municipal levels. At the individual level, we considered health and individual characteristics of the children; at cluster level, we incorporated the altitude above sea level; and at the municipal level, we included precipitation and annual average climate. The association between ARI-recall and independent variables was assessed using a multilevel logistic regression model. ARI-recall was significantly associated with age (OR = 0.61; 95%CI: 0.48-0.79), belonging to an indigenous group (OR = 1.51; 95%CI: 1.16-1.96), and a medium or very poor wealth index (OR = 2.03; 95%CI: 1.25-3.30 and OR = 1.75; 95%CI: 1.08-2.84, respectively). We found interaction between acute child malnutrition and average annual precipitation. Children with acute malnutrition and from municipalities with high annual precipitation had significantly 3.6-fold increased risk of ARI-recall (OR = 3.6; 95%CI: 1.3-10.1). Individual conditions and precipitation are risk factors for ARI-recall in Colombian children. These results could be useful to understand ARI occurrence in children living in tropical countries with similar characteristics.