Nomogram for pneumonia prediction among children and young people with cerebral palsy: A population-based cohort study

Pneumonia is the leading cause of death among children and young people (CYP) with severe cerebral palsy (CP). Only a few studies used nomogram for assessing risk factors and the probability of pneumonia. Therefore, we aimed to identify risk factors and devise a nomogram for identifying the probability of severe pneumonia in CYP with severe CP. This retrospective nationwide population-based cohort study examined CYP with newly diagnosed severe CP before 18 years old between January 1.sup.st, 1997 and December 31.sup.st, 2013 and followed them up through December 31.sup.st, 2013. The primary endpoint was defined as the occurrence of severe pneumonia with [greater than or equal to] 5 days of hospitalization. Logistic regression analysis was used for determining demographic factors and comorbidities associated with severe pneumonia. These factors were assigned integer points to create a scoring system to identify children at high risk for severe pneumonia. Among 6,356 CYP with newly diagnosed severe CP, 2,135 (33.59%) had severe pneumonia. Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that seven independent predictive factors, namely age