Clinical Report: Evaluating the Diagnostic Precision of Tachypnoea in Infants

Overview

This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of tachypnoea thresholds in predicting mortality and detecting sepsis in infants aged 0–59 days. Tachypnoea≥60 bpm was associated with increased odds of mortality.

Background

Tachypnoea is a critical clinical sign used to predict mortality and identify sepsis in young infants. Accurate identification of at-risk infants is essential for timely intervention, especially in low-resource settings where laboratory diagnostics may not be available.

Data Highlights

Key Findings

• Tachypnoea≥60 bpm is associated with a threefold increased odds of mortality in infants.

• The sensitivity of tachypnoea≥60 bpm for predicting mortality is 31%, with a specificity of 89%.

• Tachypnoea≥70 bpm shows a higher odds ratio for mortality (OR 10.06) but lower sensitivity (10.9%).

• Tachypnoea is not significantly associated with culture-confirmed sepsis.

Clinical Implications

Tachypnoea should be used as a danger sign for assessing mortality risk in young infants.

Conclusion

The findings support the use of tachypnoea as a clinical sign for mortality risk in young infants.

Related Resources & Content

1. Clinical Signs Associated With Mortality and Sepsis in Young Infants: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis | Pediatrics | JAMA Pediatrics | JAMA Network

2. Intensive Care Medicine — Utilizing Machine Learning to Forecast Sepsis: A Comprehensive Review and Meta-Analysis of Diagnostic Accuracy

3. Frontiers in Pediatrics — Diagnostic accuracy of lung ultrasound for transient tachypnea of the newborn: a meta-analysis

4. International Journal of Infectious Diseases — Mortality Risk Prediction from Dense PICU Data from Patients with Suspected Infection: Data-Derived Physiological Trajectories Outperform Expert Assessments When Temporal Resolution Is High

5. Frontiers in Medicine — Prediction models for mortality in patients with sepsis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

6. WHO recommendations for management of serious bacterial infections in infants aged 0–59 days

7. https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/mca-documents/child/imci-integrated-management-of-childhood-illness/imci-in-service-training/imci_in_servicetraining_mod05.pdf?sfvrsn=29d4b3bd_6

8. WHO recommendations

9. Clinical Signs Associated With Mortality and Sepsis in Young Infants: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis | Pediatrics | JAMA Pediatrics | JAMA Network

10. Accuracy of Infant Clinical Signs to Predict Young Infant Mortality

11. Update to the Neonatal Early-Onset Sepsis Calculator Utilizing a Contemporary Cohort | Pediatrics | American Academy of Pediatrics