DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS AND LENGTH OF HOSPITAL STAY IN CHILDREN WITH ACUTE RHEUMATIC FEVER

Abstrak

Attack of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) are often severely unwell, in great pain, with severe carditis and requirement of hospitalization. Length of hospital stay in ARF patients usually depend on the severity of the disease. Relationship between disease characteristic and length of stay especially in children is usually unknown. The aim of this study is to determine the relationship of disease characteristics and length of hospital stay in children with ARF in Sanglah Hospital. Using inpatient medical record, we identified all patients with acute rheumatic fever from January 2016 until May 2019. Independent T-test was used to assess for statistical significance and a p-value less than 0.05 was considered significant. A total of 41 patients were admitted with primary diagnosis of acute rheumatic fever and registered in Sanglah Hospital from January 2016 until May 2019; the mean of age was 11.41 (SD 3.33) years old and 63.4% were male. Median length of stay was 6.0 (0-36) days. Severe carditis, recurrent ARF attack, and comorbidity has a significant mean difference of length of stay [(25 vs 16; p=0.021); (29 vs. 16, p=0.001), (37 vs. 17, p=0.001) days] respectively. Severe carditis, recurrent attacks of ARF, comorbid were an important factor associated with longer hospital stay.