Abstract: Objective To analyze the clinical epidemiology situation (trend and characteristics) of pediatric tuberculosis (TB) among inpatients with TB in the Shandong Provincial Chest Hospital，to provide references for improving diagnosis, treatment and management of pediatric TB in the hospital.  Methods  The information and data of 916 TB cases aged below 14 years and stayed in Shandong Provincial Chest Hospital in 1992-2011 were analyzed retrospectively. Among them, 272 cases were in the 0- years age group，301 cases were in the 5- years age group，343 cases were in the 10-14 years age group. In order to do the trend analysis, the 20 years were divided into 4 periods, including 1992-1996, 1997-2001, 2002-2006 and 2007-2011.The following variables were analyzed: the proportion of pediatric TB inpatients among all inpatients with TB, and the trends by sex, age, resident place, type of TB and length of hospital stay. Linear regression method was used for the analysis of the overall trend of proportion of pediatric TB among all TB inpatients; χ² test was used for the analysis of the constituent ratios of different types of TB in different periods; By using SPSS 17.0, the analysis of variance was used to analyze the trends of the length of hospital stay and the proportion of age groups. A value of P<0.05 was regarded as a statistically significant difference.  Results  The proportion of pediatric TB among all inpatients with TB decreased from 3.74%（22/588）in 1992 to 2.82%（92/3258）in 2011, and the linear regression analysis results (y=－0.0549x+3.2578, r²=0.094) showed an overall decreasing tread；the proportion of male pediatric TB patients increased from 54.78%（86/157） in the period of 1992-1996 to 63.14%（221/350）in the period of 2007-2011；the proportion of TB patients in the 0- years age group increased from 15.29% （24/157）in the period of 1992-1996 to 41.14%（144/350） in the period of 2007-2011；the proportion of pediatric TB patients from the rural areas increased from 68.79% （108/157）in the period of 1992-1996 to 80.29%（281/350）in the period of 2007-2011；the proportion of pediatric pulmonary TB was 58.30%（534/916）；the proportions of different types of TB in different periods were as follows: tuberculous meningitis significantly reduced from 24.20% （38/157）in 1992-1996 to 14.00% （49/350）in 2007-2011（χ²=7.94，P<0.05）,but the lymphatic TB increased significantly from 3.82%（6/157）in 1992-1996 to 24.29% （85/350）in 2007-2011（χ²=32.82，P<0.05）.  Conclusion The overall trend of the proportion of pediatric TB among all inpatients with TB in Shandong Provincial Chest Hospital is reducing. However, the proportion of pediatric TB patients in the 0- years age group and the pediatric TB patients from the rural areas are increasing; pulmonary TB is the main type of TB among children.

Key words: Tuberculosis/epidemiology, Child hospitalized, Shandong province