Open AccessPneumonia in the Elderly Hospitalized in the Department of Veteran Affairs Health Care System
Author(s) -
Scott Selinger,
Marcos I. Restrepo,
Laurel A. Copeland,
Mary Jo Pugh,
Brandy Nakashima,
John R. Downs,
Antonio Anzueto,
Eric M. Mortensen
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
military medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.442
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1930-613X
pISSN - 0026-4075
DOI - 10.7205/milmed-d-09-00211
Subject(s) - medicine , pneumonia , veterans affairs , emergency medicine , intensive care unit , mechanical ventilation , intensive care medicine , pediatrics
Pneumonia is a major cause of hospital admissions and deaths worldwide. Our aim was to examine the trends in admissions for pneumonia in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). We examined data for the fiscal years 2002 through 2007 on patients aged 65 years and older hospitalized with pneumonia by using VA administrative databases. The numbers of hospital admissions for pneumonia were relatively stable during this period. However, length of hospital stay and 30- and 90-day mortality decreased during this period. The proportion of patients admitted to the intensive care unit remained relatively constant, but fewer received mechanical ventilation; there was substantial increase in noninvasive ventilation. In the VA, pneumonia-related admissions are being managed more effectively even as the overall number of admissions remains stable.