Factors associated with pneumonia among children below five years at Lyantonde hospital, Lyantonde district. A cross-sectional study.

Background: Pneumonia is fatal, and most deaths occur due to misdiagnosis of pneumonia by parents and caregivers, as well as initial mistreatment of the disease with anti-malaria drugs. Therefore, the purpose was to identify the factors associated with pneumonia among children below five years at Lyantonde Hospital, Lyantonde District. Methodology: The study adopted a cross-sectional descriptive design employing quantitative methods of data collection, which involved a self-administered questionnaire to collect data from a sample of 30 mothers who were sampled using a simple random sampling method. Data was collected from respondents after seeking consent from them, analyzed, and entered manually into the computer using Microsoft Excel office programs 2016, which presented it in the form of tables, graphics, and pie-charts. Results: 30 respondents participated in this study. 12(40%) were of 26-30 years, 9(30%) were of 18-25 years, 5(16.7%) were of 31-35 years, 3(10%) were of 36-40 years and 1(3.3%) were of 41-46 years. 26 (86.7%) were from rural areas, 28(93.3%) used firewood when cooking,13(43.3%) stated that they delivered from home, and 18(60%) did not practice exclusive breastfeeding. 14(46.7%) mentioned that their children were between 1 and 2 years, 25(83.3%) did not feed their children on nutritious foods, while 17(56.7%) had 2kg weight children at birth. 20(66.7%) did not smoke tobacco at home, 27(90%) never had a well-ventilated shelter, and 17(56.7%) mentioned that there were 6 to 10 people in the home environment. Conclusion: The study showed various factors associated with pneumonia, which include: rural residence, place of delivery, poor nutrition, early introduction of complementary feeds, and exposure to bad smoke. Recommendation: The Ministry of Health should increase awareness about pneumonia and its prevention strategies among communities through health education programs and media campaigns.