Pediatric Asthma Exacerbation Seen in the Emergency Department: A descriptive Study of Factors that Influence Hospitalization as an Outcome

摘要

To determine predictors of hospitalization as an outcome for pediatric patients experiencing a severe asthma exacerbation seen in the Emergency Department (ED), specific to Department of Defense (DoD) beneficiaries, a secondary data analysis was conducted on DoD data. Verran's (1997) theory-driven framework was used to guide the selection of variables and analysis. The study controlled for asthma severity and structure. Using variables identified through a literature review, a group of subjects with hospitalization as an outcome (11 74) was compared to a group of subjects without hospitalization as an outcome (11 158) by means of analysis of differences procedures. Logistic regression was conducted using the variables found to be statistically significant. Subjects with a history of intubation (OR = .066), having been admitted for asthma within 1 year (OR .307), corticosteroid administered intravenously or intramuscularly (OR .238) and the number of beta2- agonists administered (OR = 1.832) were the statistically significant variables.