Risk Factors for Pneumonia in Toddlers at a Regional General Hospital of Mappi Regency, South Papua Province

¹ Master’s Program in Epidemiology, Faculty of Public Health, Diponegoro University, Semarang, Indonesia
² Faculty of Public Health, Diponegoro University, Semarang, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: dwi.sutiningsih@live.undip.ac.id

Abstract

Mappi Regency of South Papua has a high prevalence of pneumonia, with 387 cases in 2022 and a death rate of 8. This study aims to prove the risk factors for pneumonia in young children in Mappi Regency. The research used a case-control design, involving 72 samples for a case group and control group, respectively. Variables studied include child factors (male gender, asthma history, history of other diseases or comorbidities, non-exclusive breastfeeding, poor nutritional status); mother factors (low education, lack of knowledge, not employment, and mother’s behavior of smoking and chewing areca nut); environmental factors (habitat density, presence of family members who smoke, family members with a history of pneumonia, use of mosquito coils, and use of wood fuel for cooked); and low family income factors. Data analysis was carried out using chi-square and double logistic regression tests with the help of SPSS 25. The results for the multivariate trial demonstrated that the history of asthma (OR = 20.303; 95% CI = 6.461-63.802), the comorbital history (OR = 4.687; 95% CI = 1.834-11.977), poor nutritional status (OR = 2.905; 95% CI = 1.166-7.240), and the use of cooking wood fuel (OR = 3.831; 95% CI = 1.452-10.108) were risk factors for lung infection in toddlers. A history of asthma was the most risky factor among others. Parents whose children have a history of asthma should recognize asthma triggers in their children such as exposure to cigarette smoke, cold air, and air pollution, and provide medication according to doctor’s recommendations, provide food intake with good nutrition, keep children away from the cooking area where they can inhale smoke from burning firewood used for cooking, and encourage children to get used to a healthy life by washing their hands to avoid cold, diarrhea or other diseases that can worsen their pneumonia.