Characteristics of children readmitted with severe pneumonia in Kenyan hospitals

Pneumonia is a leading cause of childhood morbidity and mortality. Hospital re-admission may signify missed opportunities for care or undiagnosed comorbidities. We conducted a retrospective cohort study including children aged ≥ 2 months-14 years hospitalised with severe pneumonia between 2013 and 2021 in a network of 20 primary referral hospitals in Kenya. Severe pneumonia was defined using the 2013 World Health Organization criteria, and re-admission was based on clinical documentation from individual patient case notes. We estimated the prevalence of re-admission, described clinical management practices, and modelled risk factors for re-admission and inpatient mortality. Among 20,603 children diagnosed with severe pneumonia, 2,274 (11.0