Premium
Does Antibiotic Choice Affect Length of Stay for Community‐Acquired Pneumonia?
Author(s) -
McKellar Alice C
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of pharmacy practice and research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.222
H-Index - 22
eISSN - 2055-2335
pISSN - 1445-937X
DOI - 10.1002/j.2055-2335.2005.tb00296.x
Subject(s) - medicine , concordance , antibiotics , pneumonia severity index , community acquired pneumonia , pneumonia , ceftriaxone , antibiotic resistance , cephalosporin , gentamicin , intensive care medicine , microbiology and biotechnology , biology
Background Antibiotic choice for community‐acquired pneumonia (CAP) should reflect disease severity, likely pathogens and its effect on antimicrobial resistance. Consensus guidelines do not recommend third‐generation cephalosporins for routine therapy in CAP. Aim To determine whether the choice of antibiotics may have an impact on how long patients with CAP remain hospitalised. Method A retrospective review of patients with pneumonia admitted to a hospital was conducted for a 10‐month period. Adult patients with pneumonic consolidation on chest X‐ray were included. Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI) was used to stratify severity and antibiotic therapy was assessed for concordance with the Therapeutic Guidelines: Antibiotic , version 11. Results 99 patients were included. The average length of stay across all risk classes was 8.5 days (range: 1–43). For patients receiving antibiotics concordant with the Therapeutic Guidelines: Antibiotic , there was a trend towards decreased length of stay in all classes, except for the most severe category (class V). Length of stay was significantly less for patients with the least severe disease (class I). The main reason for non‐concordance was the use of ceftriaxone in patients without contraindications to a combination of benzylpenicillin, gentamicin and a macrolide. Conclusion Concordant use of antibiotics in patients with CAP could be associated with a decreased length of stay for inpatients with a PSI class of I to IV.