Univariate analysis of potential predictor variables
| Variable | Missing observation | OR (95% CI) | AUC (95% CI) | p Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male sex | 0 | 0.90 (0.54 to 1.51) | 0.51 (0.45 to 0.58) | 0.700 |
| Age (months) | 3 | 0.97 (0.97 to 0.97) | 0.64 (0.56 to 0.70) | 0.003 |
| MUAC (mm) | 14 | 0.97 (0.96 to 0.98) | 0.76 (0.70 to 0.83) | <0.001 |
| Weight for age z-score | 5 | 0.66 (0.57 to 0.76) | 0.68 (0.60 to 0.76) | <0.001 |
| Weight for length/height z-score | 15 | 0.81 (0.72 to 0.91) | 0.62 (0.55 to 0.70) | <0.001 |
| Length/height for age z-score | 16 | 0.79 (0.70 to 0.89) | 0.63 (0.56 to 0.71) | <0.001 |
| HR for age z-score | 3 | 0.86 (0.74 to 0.99) | 0.61 (0.53 to 0.69) | 0.036 |
| HR (raw) | 0 | 1.00 (0.99 to 1.01) | 0.53 (0.47 to 0.62) | 0.728 |
| RR for age z-score | 3 | 0.99 (0.92 to 1.06) | 0.53 (0.45 to 0.60) | 0.747 |
| RR (raw) | 0 | 1.01 (1.00 to 1.03) | 0.57 (0.50 to 0.63) | 0.100 |
| SBP z-score | 21 | 0.94 (0.79 to 1.12) | 0.50 (0.45 to 0.61) | 0.526 |
| SBP (raw) | 6 | 0.98 (0.96 to 1.00) | 0.58 (0.50 to 0.66) | 0.018 |
| DBP (raw) | 6 | 0.99 (0.97 to 1.01) | 0.55 (0.50 to 0.65) | 0.255 |
| Temperature (transformed) | 0 | 1.02 (0.90 to 1.16) | 0.51 (0.45 to 0.57) | 0.789 |
| Temperature (raw) | 0 | 0.76 (0.62 to 0.93) | 0.58 (0.50 to 0.65) | 0.007 |
| SpO2 (raw) | 13 | 0.94 (0.92 to 0.96) | 0.65 (0.57 to 0.73) | <0.001 |
| SpO2 (transformed) | 13 | 1.04 (1.02 to 1.05) | 0.65 (0.57 to 0.73) | <0.001 |
| HIV positive (vs negative) | 25 | 5.21 (2.55 to 10.65) | 0.57 (0.52 to 0.62) | <0.001 |
| Haemoglobin (g/dL) | 10 | 0.95 (0.87 to 1.03) | 0.56 (0.49 to 0.63) | 0.227 |
| Blantyre Coma Scale <5 (vs 5) | 0 | 2.40 (1.27 to 4.57) | 0.56 (0.50 to 0.61) | 0.007 |
| Positive blood smear (vs negative) | 11 | 0.33 (0.16 to 0.68) | 0.60 (0.55 to 0.65) | 0.002 |
| Illness >7 days prior to admission | 1 | 0.50 (0.30 to 0.83) | 0.58 (0.52 to 0.65) | 0.008 |
| Time since last hospitalisation* | 3 | 0.75 (0.62 to 0.90) | 0.59 (0.52 to 0.67) | 0.003 |
| Sibling deaths | 0 | 1.54 (0.89 to 2.65) | 0.55 (0.48 to 0.61) | 0.121 |
| Number of children in family | 2 | 1.02 (0.92 to 1.13) | 0.50 (0.43 to 0.58) | 0.750 |
| Boil all drinking water | 0 | 0.82 (0.47 to 1.42) | 0.52 (0.46 to 0.58) | 0.471 |
| Maternal age (years) | 0 | 1.00 (0.97 to 1.04) | 0.52 (0.41 to 0.57) | 0.892 |
| Maternal HIV (ref: negative) | ||||
| HIV positive, n=142 | 0 | 1.79 (0.87 to 3.67) | 0.54 (0.48 to 0.61) | 0.113 |
| HIV status unknown, n=220 | 0 | 1.27 (0.64 to 2.52) | 0.499 | |
| Maternal education (ref: <primary 3) | ||||
| Primary 3–7, n=630 | 0 | 1.18 (0.62 to 2.23) | 0.54 (0.50 to 0.63) | 0.619 |
| Some secondary, n=269 | 0 | 0.72 (0.31 to 1.70) | 0.457 | |
| Postsecondary, n=93 | 0 | 1.18 (0.41 to 3.36) | 0.762 | |
| Bed-net use (ref: never) | ||||
| Sometimes | 0 | 1.00 (0.48 to 2.09) | 0.52 (0.45 to 0.59) | 0.996 |
| Always | 0 | 0.85 (0.46 to 1.58) | 0.612 | |
| Distance from hospital (ref: <30 min) | ||||
| 30–60 | 0 | 0.71 (0.31 to 1.64) | 0.56 (0.49 to 0.62) | 0.421 |
| >60 | 0 | 1.30 (0.70 to 2.41) | 0.401 | |
*Ordered as <7 days, 7 to 30 days, 30 days to 1 year, >1 year and never (analysed as continuous and coded and 1–5, respectively).
AUC, area under the curve; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; HR, heart rate; MUAC, mid-upper arm circumference; RR, respiratory rate; SBP, systolic blood pressure.