<![CDATA[Background Febrile neutropenia is the most common side effectof myelosuppressive chemotherapy. It is important to identify itsrisk factors to decrease the morbidity and mortality of febrileneutropenia.Objective To identify whether age, type of malignancy, phase anddose of chemotherapy, nutritional status, and absolute neutrophylcount are risk factors for febrile neutropenia.Methods A hospital-based case control study was conducted atHasan Sadikin Hospital from June 2000 to July 2005. Data wascollected from medical records. The case group consisted ofchildren with malignancy who received chemotherapy andsuffered from febrile neutropenia, while the control groupconsisted of children without febrile neutropenia. Chi square andlogistic regression analysis were performed to analyze data usingSPSS for Windows version 13.0.Results Eighty-seven cases and 94 controls were evaluated.Analysis showed that malignancy type i.e, hematologicmalignancy, chemotherapy phase, and absolute neutrophyl countmight be the risk factors for febrile neutropenia (OR=4.6, 95%CI 1.3;16.7, P=0.019; OR=8.1, 95% CI 2.2;30.5, P=0.002; andOR=1.0, 95% CI 1.003;1.007, P <0.001, respectively), while age,chemotherapy dose, and nutritional status might not be the riskfactors (median 60, range 6-144, P=0.342; OR=1.9, 95% CI0.8;4.8, P=0.129; and P=0.798, respectively).Conclusion Hematologic malignancy, induction phase ofchemotherapy, and absolute neutrophyl count =250/mm 3 are therisk factors for febrile neutropenia in children with malignancywho received chemotherapy.]]>
