Smart Discharges Rwanda Under 5: Observational Study Data

Objective(s): This is a prospective observational study in pediatric patients 0-60 months admitted to study sites for proven or suspected infection. The objective of this study is to characterize post-discharge mortality in children in Rwanda. It aimed to externally validate the Smart Discharge prediction algorithms for adverse post-discharge outcomes previously developed in Uganda. See the metadata below for related study materials.

Data Description and Collection Methods: All data were collected at the point of care using encrypted study tablets and these data were then uploaded to a Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) database hosted at the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute (Vancouver, Canada).   At admission, trained study nurses systematically collected data on clinical, social and demographic variables. Following discharge, field officers contacted caregivers at 2 and 4 months by phone, and in-person at 6 months, to determine vital status, post-discharge health-seeking, and readmission details. Verbal autopsies were conducted for children who had died following discharge. 

Data Processing: Created z-scores for anthropometry variables using height and weight according to WHO cutoff. Distance to hospital was calculated using latitude and longitude. Extra symptom and diagnosis categories were created based on text field in these two variables. BCS score was created by summing all individual components. Post-discharge mortality is based on death by 183 days. Readmission was limited to the first two occurrences by combining information from the three follow-up period.

Ethics Declaration: This study was approved by the institutional review boards at University of California, San Francisco (No. 21-34663, 08-Oct-2021), University of British Columbia (No. H21-02795, 28-Jan-2022) and University of Kigali (No. 411, 30-Dec-2021) Stata, 15.0