Characterization of hospitalized Infants with recurrent wheezing and evaluation of the International Study of Wheezing

Abstract

Background: Wheezing is a very common disorder in childhood that recorded high demand for medical consultation and care in emergency services. It has relatively high rates of hospitalization and it is associated with infant mortality induced by respiratory infections.

Objectives: To establish the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of infants hospitalized in the Mario Catarino Rivas Hospital (HNMCR) during the period June 15 to September 16, 2015 and to determine the usefulness of the International Study of Wheezing in Infancy (EISL) questionnaire.

Patients and Methods: This is a not experimental cross-sectional study. Parents of 100 hospitalized children between 6 and 18 months answered through a direct interview the EISL modified questionnaire. To analyze the infants characteristics frequencies, percentages and central tendency measures were used. The reliability and overall validity was calculated to assess the usefulness of the test. Data were analyzed with the SPSS software version 21.0.

Results: The prevalence of recurrent wheezing found was 31% (n = 31); reliability of the questionnaire was assessed with Cronbach α = 0.841 and KR-20 = 0.8333; the instrument content validity: expert opinion 0.88, criterion validity: rxy≥ 0.83, construct validity: KMO = 0.68; total validity was 0.79

Conclusions: The prevalence of wheezing is higher than reported in the literature for Latin America; the shortened EISL questionnaire is statistically valid to be applied to the Mario Catarino Rivas Hospital Infants.

Acta Pediátrica Hondureña, Vol. 6, No. 2 /octubre 2015 a marzo 2016: 465-472