Prevalence and Incidence of Pediatric Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome in a Tertiary Academic PICU in South Africa.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the prevalence and incidence of pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome (pARDS) among infants and children admitted to the PICU.

DESIGN

A single-center descriptive point prevalence study with twice weekly data collection over a 6 months (August 2020 to February 12, 2021).

SETTING

Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa.

PATIENTS

All infants and children admitted to the PICU on study days were included.

INTERVENTIONS

Data were captured electronically on a standardized case record form using a Research Electronic Data Capture electronic database.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

The Pediatric Acute Lung Injury Consensus Conference criteria were used to define pARDS cases. Prevalence was calculated as the total number of pARDS cases/1,000 PICU bed days. The study included 354 patients (median [interquartile range]) 10.1 months old (1.5-61.3 mo old), with 204 males (57.6%), who occupied 879 bed days. Of these 879 bed days, 266 (30.3%; 95% CI, 27.2-33.3%) were occupied by pARDS cases, with a calculated prevalence and incidence of 302.6 of 1,000 bed days (30.3%) and 29.7% (95% CI, 26.7-32.7%), respectively. Three cases from the cohort were defined using the oxygen saturation index calculation. In cases receiving invasive ventilation ( n = 494; 56.2%), pARDS severity was classified as mild ( n = 143; 16.3%), moderate ( n = 44; 5.0%), and severe ( n = 29, 3.3%). A further 205 beds (23.3%) were occupied by patients classified as being at risk of pARDS.

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence and incidence of pARDS in a South African PICU appears substantially higher than findings described in international reports. Further investigation of risk factors and outcomes is warranted.