Efficacy of Systemic and Inhaled Corticosteroid Therapy for Patients with Community-Acquired Pneumonia: An Evidence-Based Case Report

Background: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is one of the top leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide.CAP also becomes the sixth most prevalent cause of overall mortality in adults. Corticosteroids are known to be the most potentanti-inflammatory drugs and have physiologic rationale for their use in patients with infection. Its efficacy in the treatment ofCAP is still debatable.Objective: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and clinical outcomes of systemic and inhaled steroid therapy for patientswith community-acquired pneumonia.Methods: We used four databases for literature searching process, Pubmed, EBSCO, ProQuest, and Science Direct, which selectedarticles are those therapeutic studies with relevant clinical question and met the inclusion-exclusion criteria. Critical appraisalwas performed by assessed its validity, importance, and applicability based on Oxford Center of Evidenced-Based Medicine 2011.Results: Three retrieved articles feature cohort studies. Two studies conducted systemic steroid therapy research which otherconducted inhaled steroid. Two of three articles show steroid therapy was associated with lower mortality and shorter clinicalstability.Conclusion: We suggested that steroid therapy, both systemic and inhaled steroids help hasten clinical recovery, prevent pneumoniarelated complication, lower mortality, and reduction in the duration of mechanical ventilation and length of hospital stay.