Table 2 Demographic and clinical characteristics of the study cohort
Characteristic | All | Malaria RDT Positive | Malaria RDT Negative | p-Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Patients (n, %) | 1693 (100) | 369 (21.8) | 1324 (78.2) | – |
Age, (median, IQR) | 5 (2–10) | 7 (4–11) | 4 (2–9) | < 0.001* |
 < 5 years | 788 (46.5) | 122 (33.1) | 666 (50.3) |  |
 5–12 years | 577 (34.1) | 155 (42.0) | 422 (31.9) | < 0.001 |
 ≥ 12 years | 328 (19.4) | 92 (24.9) | 236 (17.8) |  |
Female sex (n, %) | 904 (53.4) | 200 (54.2) | 704 (53.2) | 0.73 |
Recruitment Site (n, %) | ||||
 Bugoye | 632 (37.3) | 214 (58.0) | 418 (31.6) |  |
 Kasese | 606 (35.8) | 138 (37.4) | 468 (35.4) | < 0.001 |
 Mbarara | 455 (26.9) | 17 (4.6) | 438 (33.1) |  |
Slept under bednet (n, %) | 1222 (73.0) | 244 (67.2) | 978 (74.5) | 0.005 |
 Excluding Mbarara | 858 (70.3) | 235 (67.9) | 623 (71.3) | 0.25 |
Days since fever onset (median, IQR)* | 3 (2–3) | 3 (2–3) | 3 (2–3) | 0.0008* |
Reported Symptoms | ||||
 Anorexia/Poor Feeding | 234 (13.8) | 56 (15.2) | 178 (13.4) | 0.39 |
 Arthralgia | 170 (10.0) | 64 (17.3) | 106 (8.0) | < 0.001 |
 Cough | 1178 (69.1) | 208 (56.1) | 970 (72.7) | < 0.001 |
 Diarrhea | 234 (13.8) | 34 (9.2) | 200 (15.1) | 0.004 |
 Headache | 1076 (63.6) | 276 (74.8) | 800 (60.4) | < 0.001 |
 Myalgia | 143 (8.5) | 59 (16.0) | 84 (6.3) | < 0.001 |
 Rash | 92 (5.4%) | 15 (4.1) | 77 (5.8) | 0.19 |
 Rhinorrhea | 897 (53.0) | 134 (36.3) | 763 (57.6) | < 0.001 |
 Seizures | 6 (0.4) | 1 (0.3) | 5 (0.4) | 0.76 |
 Vomiting | 248 (14.7) | 46 (12.5) | 202 (15.3) | 0.18 |
Abnormal Vital Signs (n, %) | ||||
 Febrile (T ≥ 38o C) | 281 (16.6) | 75 (20.3) | 206 (15.6) | 0.03 |
 Hypoxia (SpO2 < 90%) | 93 (5.5) | 12 (3.3) | 81 (6.2) | 0.03 |
Previously seen at health center for same condition? | 252 (15.0) | 30 (8.2) | 222 (16.8) | < 0.001 |
Taken antimalarials in the last 2 weeks? | 175 (10.4) | 26 (7.1) | 149 (11.3) | 0.02 |