CART – model for children between 12 and 60 months of age (N = 4143).

<p>¹ Number of patients with the respective combination of variables given by the branches of the decision tree. ² Number of patients positive for <i>P. falciparum</i> parasitaemia. ³ Odds Ratio for <i>P. falciparum</i> parasitaemia with the combination of variables in comparison to all other combinations.</p

CART – model for children between 2 and 12 months of age (N = 1304).

<p>¹ Number of patients with the respective combination of variables given by the branches of the decision tree. ² Number of patients positive for <i>P. falciparum</i> parasitaemia. ³ Odds Ratio for <i>P. falciparum</i> parasitaemia with the combination of variables in comparison to all other combinations.</p

Distribution of haemoglobin-values in patients of different ages with and without palmar pallor.

<p>p-value was calculated assuming a Student's t distribution.</p

Sensitivity and specificity of symptoms for prediction of <i>P. falciparum</i> parasitaemia in different age groups.

<p>Note: Percentage refers to the total number of patients within each age group.</p>a<p>ROF = <i>report of fever</i>;</p>b<p>EBT = <i>elevated body temperature</i>;</p>c<p>NRS = <i>no respiratory symptoms</i>.</p

Classification and comparison of CART model and IMCI algorithm.

a<p>IMCI-algorithm for identification of children with malaria in high-risk areas: Fever by history of fever or feeling hot/elevated body temperature of ≥37.5°C on admission and/or some palmar pallor.</p>b<p>CART-model: For calculation only those variables were used, which were included in the CART-analysis for the certain age group.</p>c<p>PPV = Positive predictive value.</p>d<p>NPV = Negative predictive value.</p

Signs and symptoms and their association with <i>P. falciparum</i> parasitaemia in children.

a<p>To be positive for this (inverse) variable patients must not present <i>malnourished condition</i>.</p>b<p>To be positive for this (inverse) variable patients must not present <i>skin abnormalities</i>, <i>skin rash</i>, <i>skin depigmentation</i> and <i>other skin problem</i>.</p>c<p>To be positive for this (inverse) variable patients must not present <i>vomiting</i> and <i>diarrhoea</i>.</p>d<p>To be positive for this (inverse) variable patients must not present <i>respiratory distress, breathing difficulties, fast breathing, deep breathing, chest indrawing, running nose</i>, blocked nose and <i>cough</i>.</p>e<p>CI: 95% Confidence interval.</p

Enrollment and exclusion of patients for analysis.

<p>^a A patient is defined as an individual visiting the OPD. ^b Case report forms must have information for each variable in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0036678#pone-0036678-t002" target="_blank">Table 2</a> available.</p