Prevalence and outcomes of Guillain-Barré syndrome among pediatrics in Saudi Arabia: a 10-year retrospective study

Asiri, Safiyyah; Altwaijri, Waleed A; Ba-Armah, Duaa; Al Rumayyan, Ahmed; Alrifai, Muhammad T; Salam, Mahmoud; Almutairi, Adel F

Analysis showed that male GBS patients were more likely to endure progression to maximum paralysis in #2 weeks after the onset of symptoms (n=24, 82.8%), compared to female GBS patients (n=10, 50%), P=0.014. All cases complaining of respiratory problems exhibited a progression to maximum paralyses in #2 weeks, compared to those with no respiratory problems, P=0.027. On the other hand, residual paralysis at 60 days post onset of disease was highly associated with GBS patients aged 8-14 years (n=15, 65.2%), compared to younger patients (n=8, 30.8%), P=0.016. Patients admitted in colder seasons (n=14, 63.6%) were more likely to suffer residual paralysis too, compared to warmer seasons (n=9, 33.3%), P=0.035. GBS patients who complained of facial weakness (n=9, 75%) and ocular abnormalities (n=10, 71.4%) were also more likely to endure residual paralysis at 60 days post disease onset, P=0.025 and P=0.03 respectively (Table 3) . Two binary logistic regression models showed that males were 5.69 times more likely to exhibit progression to maximum paralysis in #2 weeks compared to females, adjusted P=0.017. Older GBS patients with age 8-14 years were 3.9 times more likely to sustain residual paralysis at 60 days compared to younger patients aged 1-7 years, adjusted P=0.034 (Table 4 ).