[Clinical policy for management and risk stratification of community-acquired pneumonia in patients hospitalized on the basis of conventional admission criteria]

Recenti Prog Med. 2003 May;94(5):199-203.
[Article in Italian]

Abstract

To identify discrepancies between Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI) risk class and the conventional criteria for deciding the site of care we performed a prospective observational study on 229 patients hospitalized for community-acquired pneumonia. PSI classes and corresponding mortality rates were as following: class I, 41 patients (0%); class II, 20 (0%); class III, 58 (1.7%); class IV, 86 (8.1%); class V, 24 (33.3%). Overall, 119 patients (52%) who were hospitalized according to conventional criteria were assigned to low-risk classes (I-III). Among these low risk patients, 58 (49%) had complications as respiratory failure, pleural effusion, hypotension or shock; among remaining patients, no reasons for admission were found. This latter group deserves prospective evaluation in randomized studies comparing in-hospital versus outpatient management.

Publication types

  • English Abstract

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / microbiology
  • Chi-Square Distribution
  • Community-Acquired Infections / diagnosis
  • Community-Acquired Infections / microbiology
  • Community-Acquired Infections / mortality
  • Community-Acquired Infections / therapy
  • Data Interpretation, Statistical
  • Hospitalization*
  • Humans
  • Pleural Effusion / microbiology
  • Pneumonia, Bacterial / diagnosis
  • Pneumonia, Bacterial / microbiology
  • Pneumonia, Bacterial / mortality
  • Pneumonia, Bacterial / therapy*
  • Risk Assessment