Alberto Capelastegui

Validation of a predictive rule for the management of community-acquired pneumonia

The CURB-65 score (Confusion, Urea >7 mmol·L−1, Respiratory rate ≥30·min−1, low Blood pressure, and age ≥65 yrs) has been proposed as a tool for augmenting clinical judgement for stratifying patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) into different management groups. The six-point CURB-65 score was retrospectively applied in a prospective, consecutive cohort of adult patients with a diagnosis of CAP seen in the emergency department of a 400-bed teaching hospital from March 1, 2000 to February 29, 2004. A total of 1,100 inpatients and 676 outpatients were included. The 30-day mortality rate in the entire cohort increased directly with increasing CURB-65 score: 0, 1.1, 7.6, 21, 41.9 and 60% for CURB-65 scores of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively. The score was also significantly associated with the need for mechanical ventilation and rate of hospital admission in the entire cohort, and with duration of hospital stay among inpatients. The CURB-65 score (Confusion, Urea >7 mmol·L−1, Respiratory rate ≥30·min−1, low Blood pressure, and age ≥65 yrs), and a simpler CRB-65 score that omits the blood urea measurement, helps classify patients with community-acquired pneumonia into different groups according to the mortality risk and significantly correlates with community-acquired pneumonia management key points. The new score can also be used as a severity adjustment measure.

Improvement of process-of-care and outcomes after implementing a guideline for the management of community-acquired pneumonia: A controlled before-and-after design study

BACKGROUND Studies investigating the impact of guideline implementation for inpatient management of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) usually have methodological limitations. We present a controlled study that compared interventions before and after the implementation of a practice guideline. METHODS Clinical and demographic characteristics, as well as process-of-care and outcome indicators, were recorded for all patients with CAP who were admitted to Galdakao Hospital (Galdakao, Spain) in the 19-month period after the implementation, on 1 March 2000, of a guideline for the treatment of CAP. These data were also recorded for all patients with CAP who were admitted to this hospital during the year before the guideline was implemented, as well as for randomly selected inpatients with CAP at 4 other hospitals during both periods (i.e., before and after guideline implementation) who were chosen as an external comparison group. Multivariate linear and logistic regression models were employed for adjustment. RESULTS Guideline implementation resulted in shorter durations of antibiotic treatment (P<.001) and intravenous treatment (P<.001), better coverage of atypical pathogens (P<.001), and improved appropriateness of antibiotic treatment (P<.001), compared with the period before the guideline was implemented. The adjusted analyses revealed decreases in 30-day mortality (odds ratio [OR], 2.14; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.23-3.72) and in-hospital mortality (OR, 2.46; 95% CI, 1.37-4.41) and a 1.8-day reduction in the duration of hospital stay. In the control hospitals, there were small but statistically insignificant changes in these indicators for admitted patients. CONCLUSIONS This study, which was performed with an adequate, controlled before-and-after intervention design, demonstrated significant improvements in both process-of-care and outcome indicators after implementation of a guideline for treating CAP.

Prospective Comparison of Severity Scores for Predicting Clinically Relevant Outcomes for Patients Hospitalized With Community-Acquired Pneumonia

BACKGROUND The comparative accuracy and discriminatory power of three validated rules for predicting clinically relevant outcomes other than mortality in patients hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) are unknown. METHODS We prospectively compared the newly developed severe community-acquired pneumonia (SCAP) score, pneumonia severity index (PSI), and the British Thoracic Society confusion, urea > 7 mmol/L, respiratory rate > or = 30 breaths/min, BP < 90 mm Hg systolic or < 60 mm Hg diastolic, age > or = 65 years (CURB-65) rule in an internal validation cohort of 1,189 consecutive adult inpatients with CAP from one hospital and an external validation cohort of 671 consecutive adult inpatients from three other hospitals. Major adverse outcomes were admission to ICU, need for mechanical ventilation, progression to severe sepsis, or treatment failure. Mean hospital length of stay (LOS) was also evaluated. The rules were compared based on sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic. RESULTS The rate of all adverse outcomes and hospital LOS increased directly with increasing SCAP, PSI, or CURB-65 scores (p < 0.001) in both cohorts. Patients classified as high risk by the SCAP score showed higher rates of adverse outcomes (ICU admission, 35.8%; mechanical ventilation, 16.4%; severe sepsis, 98.5%; treatment failure, 22.4%) than PSI and CURB-65 high-risk classes. The discriminatory power of SCAP, as measured by AUC, was 0.75 for ICU admission, 0.76 for mechanical ventilation, 0.79 for severe sepsis, and 0.61 for treatment failure in the external validation cohort. AUC differences with PSI or CURB-65 were found. CONCLUSIONS The SCAP score is as accurate or better than other current scoring systems in predicting adverse outcomes in patients hospitalized with CAP while helping classify patients into different categories of increasing risk for potentially closer monitoring.

Predictors of short-term rehospitalization following discharge of patients hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia.

BACKGROUND Among patients hospitalized for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), the risk factors for short-term hospital readmission after discharge are unknown. METHODS We conducted a prospective observational study of 1,117 patients who had been discharged alive after hospitalization for CAP. We collected variables associated with CAP severity at hospital admission, in-hospital clinical evolution, clinical instability factors on hospital discharge, therapy employed during hospitalization, and diagnostic bacteriology. We assessed hospital readmission within 30 days after discharge for the index hospitalization. Risk factors independently associated with 30-day hospital readmission were identified using Cox regression models. RESULTS Of the 81 patients (7.3%) who were readmitted to the hospital within 30 days, 29 (35.8%) were rehospitalized for pneumonia-related causes. Variables associated with pneumonia-related hospital readmission were treatment failure (hazard ratio [HR], 2.9; 95% CI, 1.2 to 6.8), and one or more instability factors on hospital discharge (HR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.3 to 6.2). The predictive performance of these variables measured by the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic was 0.65. Variables associated with pneumonia-unrelated hospital readmission were age >or= 65 years (HR, 4.5; 95% CI, 1.4 to 14.7), Charlson comorbidity index >or= 2 (HR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.0 to 3.4), and decompensated comorbidities during in-hospital evolution (HR, 3.5; 95% CI, 2.0 to 6.3); the AUC for this model was 0.77. Patients with at least two risk factors were at significantly increased risk of 30-day hospital readmission (pneumonia-related CAP: HR, 9.0; 95% CI, 3.2 to 25.3; pneumonia-unrelated CAP: HR, 5.3; 95% CI, 1.6 to 18.1). CONCLUSIONS Among patients hospitalized for CAP, different risk factors are associated with hospital readmission related to pneumonia or to other causes. The identification of two different groups of patients who were at high risk of hospital readmission raises the possibility that different management strategies could decrease the rate of hospital readmissions.

Duration of Antibiotic Treatment in Community-Acquired Pneumonia: A Multicenter Randomized Clinical Trial

IMPORTANCE The optimal duration of antibiotic treatment for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) has not been well established. OBJECTIVE To validate Infectious Diseases Society of America/American Thoracic Society guidelines for duration of antibiotic treatment in hospitalized patients with CAP. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This study was a multicenter, noninferiority randomized clinical trial performed at 4 teaching hospitals in Spain from January 1, 2012, through August 31, 2013. A total of 312 hospitalized patients diagnosed as having CAP were studied. Data analysis was performed from January 1, 2014, through February 28, 2015. INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized at day 5 to an intervention or control group. Those in the intervention group were treated with antibiotics for a minimum of 5 days, and the antibiotic treatment was stopped at this point if their body temperature was 37.8°C or less for 48 hours and they had no more than 1 CAP-associated sign of clinical instability. Duration of antibiotic treatment in the control group was determined by physicians. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Clinical success rate at days 10 and 30 since admission and CAP-related symptoms at days 5 and 10 measured with the 18-item CAP symptom questionnaire score range, 0-90; higher scores indicate more severe symptoms. RESULTS Of the 312 patients included, 150 and 162 were randomized to the control and intervention groups, respectively. The mean (SD) age of the patients was 66.2 (17.9) years and 64.7 (18.7) years in the control and intervention groups, respectively. There were 95 men (63.3%) and 55 women (36.7%) in the control group and 101 men (62.3%) and 61 women (37.7%) in the intervention group. In the intent-to-treat analysis, clinical success was 48.6% (71 of 150) in the control group and 56.3% (90 of 162) in the intervention group at day 10 (P = .18) and 88.6% (132 of 150) in the control group and 91.9% (147 of 162) in the intervention group at day 30 (P = .33). The mean (SD) CAP symptom questionnaire scores were 24.7 (11.4) vs 27.2 (12.5) at day 5 (P = .10) and 18.6 (9.0) vs 17.9 (7.6) at day 10 (P = .69). In the per-protocol analysis, clinical success was 50.4% (67 of 137) in the control group and 59.7% (86 of 146) in the intervention group at day 10 (P = .12) and 92.7% (126 of 137) in the control group and 94.4% (136 of 146) in the intervention group at day 30 (P = .54). The mean (SD) CAP symptom questionnaire scores were 24.3 (11.4) vs 26.6 (12.1) at day 5 (P = .16) and 18.1 (8.5) vs 17.6 (7.4) at day 10 (P = .81). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE The Infectious Diseases Society of America/American Thoracic Society recommendations for duration of antibiotic treatment based on clinical stability criteria can be safely implemented in hospitalized patients with CAP. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrialsregister.eu Identifier: 2011-001067-51.

Declining Length of Hospital Stay for Pneumonia and Postdischarge Outcomes

OBJECTIVE This study was designed to assess 8-year trends in the duration of hospitalization for community-acquired pneumonia and to evaluate the impact of declining length of stay on postdischarge short-term readmission and mortality. METHODS We conducted a prospective observational cohort study of 1886 patients with community-acquired pneumonia who were discharged from a single hospital between March 1, 2000, and June 30, 2007. The main outcomes measured were all-cause mortality and hospital readmission during the 30-day period after discharge. Regression models were used to identify risk factors associated with hospital length of stay and the adjusted associations between length of stay and mortality and readmission. RESULTS Factors associated with a longer hospital stay included the number of comorbid conditions, high risk classification on the Pneumonia Severity Index, bilateral or multilobe radiographic involvement, and treatment failure. Patients treated with an appropriate antibiotic were less likely to have an increased length of stay. The mean length of stay was significantly shorter during the 2006 to 2007 period (3.6 days) than during the 2000 to 2001 period (5.6 days, P<.001). Despite the reduction in length of stay, there were no significant differences in the likelihood of death or readmission at 30 days between the 2 time periods. Adjusted multivariate analysis showed that patients with hospital stays less than 3 days did not have significant increases in postdischarge outcomes. CONCLUSION The marked decreased in the length of stay for patients hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia since 2000 has not been accompanied by an increase in short-term mortality or hospital readmission.

Etiology of community-acquired pneumonia in a population-based study: Link between etiology and patients characteristics, process-of-care, clinical evolution and outcomes

BackgroundThe etiologic profile of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) for each age group could be similar among inpatients and outpatients. This fact brings up the link between etiology of CAP and its clinical evolution and outcome. Furthermore, the majority of pneumonia etiologic studies are based on hospitalized patients, whereas there have been no recent population-based studies encompassing both inpatients and outpatients.MethodsTo evaluate the etiology of CAP, and the relationship among the different pathogens of CAP to patients characteristics, process-of-care, clinical evolution and outcomes, a prospective population-based study was conducted in Spain from April 1, 2006, to June 30, 2007. Patients (age >18) with CAP were identified through the family physicians and the hospital area.ResultsA total of 700 patients with etiologic evaluation were included: 276 hospitalized and 424 ambulatory patients. We were able to define the aetiology of pneumonia in 55.7% (390/700). The most frequently isolated organism was S. pneumoniae (170/390, 43.6%), followed by C. burnetti (72/390, 18.5%), M. pneumoniae (62/390, 15.9%), virus as a group (56/390, 14.4%), Chlamydia species (39/390, 106%), and L. pneumophila (17/390, 4.4%). The atypical pathogens and the S. pneumoniae are present in pneumonias of a wide spectrum of severity and age. Patients infected by conventional bacteria were elderly, had a greater hospitalization rate, and higher mortality within 30 days.ConclusionsOur study provides information about the etiology of CAP in the general population. The microbiology of CAP remains stable: infections by conventional bacteria result in higher severity, and the S. pneumoniae remains the most important pathogen. However, atypical pathogens could also infect patients in a wide spectrum of severity and age.

Predictors of Mortality in Patients with Stable COPD

OBJECTIVESTo determine which easily available clinical factors are associated with mortality in patients with stable COPD and if health-related quality of life (HRQoL) provides additional information.DESIGNFive-year prospective cohort study.SETTINGFive outpatient clinics of a teaching hospital.PARTICIPANTSSix hundred stable COPD patients recruited consecutively.MEASUREMENTSThe variables were age, FEV1%, dyspnea, previous hospital admissions and emergency department visits for COPD, pack-years of smoking, comorbidities, body mass index, and HRQoL measured by Saint George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire (CRQ), and Short-Form 36 (SF-36). Logistic and Cox regression models were used to assess the influence of these variables on mortality and survival.RESULTSFEV1%(OR: 0.62, 95% CI 0.5 to 0.75), dyspnea (OR 1.92, 95% CI 1.2 to 3), age (OR 2.41, 95% CI 1.6 to 3.6), previous hospitalization due to COPD exacerbations (OR 1.53, 1.2 to 2) and lifetime pack-years (OR 1.15, 95% CI 1.1 to 1.2) were independently related to respiratory mortality. Similarly, these factors were independently related to all-cause mortality with dyspnea having the strongest association (OR 1.54, 95% CI 1.1 to 2.2). HRQoL was an independent predictor of respiratory and all-cause mortality only when dyspnea was excluded from the models, except scores on the SGRQ were associated with all-cause mortality with dyspnea in the model.CONCLUSIONSAmong patients with stable COPD, FEV1% was the main predictor of respiratory mortality and dyspnea of all-cause mortality. In general, HRQoL was not related to mortality when dyspnea was taken into account, and CRQ and SGRQ behaved in similar ways regarding mortality.

Antibiotic treatment in pneumonia due to Q fever.

BACKGROUND: Whether Q fever responds better to doxycycline or erythromycin is unknown. METHODS: The efficacy of doxycycline and erythromycin in the treatment of pneumonia due to Q fever was assessed in a prospective, randomised, double blind study of 82 patients with a diagnosis of pneumonia and features suggestive of Q fever infection; 48 proved to have Q fever. Of the 48, 23 received doxycycline 100 mg twice a day and 25 patients received erythromycin 500 mg six hourly, both for 10 days. RESULTS: Both treatment groups had similar demographic characteristics. Fever showed a more rapid reduction in the doxycycline group (3(1.6) days versus 4.3(2) days). Side effects were observed in two patients receiving doxycycline compared with 11 patients receiving erythromycin (p less than 0.01). No differences were observed in other clinical or radiological measures. By day 40 the chest radiograph was normal in 47 of 48 patients. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrate the self limiting and benign nature of most cases of pneumonia due to Q fever. Doxycycline was more effective than erythromycin.

Influence of changes in physical activity on frequency of hospitalization in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

To evaluate whether changes in regular physical activity (PA) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affect the rate of hospitalizations for COPD exacerbation (eCOPD).