Sex-differences in incidence of hospitalizations and in hospital mortality of community-acquired pneumonia among children in Spain: a population-based study

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine trends from 2016 to 2019 in the incidence of hospitalizations and in-hospital mortality (IHM) of subjects<18 years with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), assessing possible sex diferences. We used Spanish national hospital discharge data to select all patients<18 years with CAP. We identifed 43,511 children (53% boys) hospitalized with CAP. The incidence of CAP was signifcantly higher in boys than in girls, with an age-adjusted incidence rate ratio of 1.05 (95%CI 1.03–1.07) for boys compared to girls, and rose from 126 per 100,000 children in 2016 to 131 in 2019 (p<0.0001). There were no sex diferences in isolated pathogens, comorbidities, length of hospital stay, or IHM. Variables independently associated with IHM were age 10 to 17 years, congenital heart disease, neurological diseases, and use of invasive mechanical ventilation. Asthma was a protective factor for IHM among girls.
Conclusion: The incidence of hospital admissions for CAP was higher among boys than among girls and rose signifcantly from 2016 to 2019. There were no sex diferences in hospital outcomes. Age 10 to 17 years, congenital heart disease, neurological diseases, and use of mechanical ventilation were risk factors for IHM in both sexes, while asthma was a protective factor among girls. No diferences were found in IHM over time.