Poor adherence to the World Health Organization guidelines of treatment of severe pneumonia in children at Khartoum, Sudan

BACKGROUND: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is as a major cause for childhood morbidity and mortality worldwide. This study was conducted to investigate the adherence and response of the WHO guidelines for treatment of severe pneumonia. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the period of June 2009 to July 2010 at Khartoum Hospital, Sudan. Children admitted and treated for severe pneumonia were enrolled. RESULTS: Only 39 (18.8%) out of 208 enrolled children received prescriptions that were adherent to the WHO guidelines of treatment of severe pneumonia. In logistic regression none of the investigated variable (age, gender, and clinical presentations) was associated with the adherence to the WHO guidelines. There was no significant difference in the response between adherent and non-adherent prescriptions. There was no association between the demographic, clinical data, treatment-adherence to the guidelines and the patients’ response. CONCLUSION: There is a poor (18.8%) adherence to the WHO guidelines of the treatment of severe pneumonia in the region regardless to the age, gender and clinical presentation.