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Sex differences in febrile children with respiratory symptoms attending European Emergency Departments

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Marieke Emonts-le ClercqORCiD

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).


Abstract

© 2022 Tan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Objective To assess sex differences in presentation and management of febrile children with respiratory symptoms attending European Emergency Departments. Design and setting An observational study in twelve Emergency Departments in eight European countries. Patients Previously healthy children aged 0-<18 years with fever (≥ 38°C) at the Emergency Department or in the consecutive three days before Emergency Department visit and respiratory symptoms were included. Main outcome measures The main outcomes were patient characteristics and management defined as diagnostic tests, treatment and admission. Descriptive statistics were used for patient characteristics and management stratified by sex. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed for the association between sex and management with adjustment for age, disease severity and Emergency Department. Additionally, subgroup analyses were performed in children with upper and lower respiratory tract infections and in children below five years. Results We included 19,781 febrile children with respiratory symptoms. The majority were boys (54%), aged 1-5 years (58%) and triaged as low urgent (67%). Girls presented less frequently with tachypnea (15% vs 16%, p = 0.002) and increased work of breathing (8% vs 12%, p<0.001) compared with boys. Girls received less inhalation medication than boys (aOR 0.82, 95% CI 0.74-0.90), but received antibiotic treatment more frequently than boys (aOR 1.09, 95% CI 1.02-1.15), which is associated with a higher prevalence of urinary tract infections. Amongst children with a lower respiratory tract infection and children below five years girls received less inhalation medication than boys (aOR 0.77, 95% CI 0.66-0.89; aOR 0.80, 95% CI 0.72-0.90). Conclusions Sex differences concerning presentation and management are present in previously healthy febrile children with respiratory symptoms presenting to the Emergency Department. Future research should focus on whether these differences are related to clinicians' attitudes, differences in clinical symptoms at the time of presentation and disease severity.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Tan CD, el Ouasghiri S, von Both U, Carrol ED, Emonts M, van der Flier M, de Groot R, Herberg J, Kohlmaier B, Levin M, Lim E, Maconochie IK, Martinon-Torres F, Nijman RG, Pokorn M, Rivero-Calle I, Tsolia M, Vermont CL, Zenz W, Zavadska D, Moll HA, Zachariasse JM, On behalf of PERFORM consortium

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: PLOS One

Year: 2022

Volume: 17

Issue: 8

Online publication date: 03/08/2022

Acceptance date: 08/07/2022

Date deposited: 26/07/2022

ISSN (electronic): 1932-6203

Publisher: Public Library of Science

URL: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271934

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0271934

PubMed id: 35921337


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Funding

Funder referenceFunder name
CL-2018-21-007

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