Guideline-concordant therapy and reduced mortality and length of stay in adults with community-acquired pneumonia: playing by the rules.
BACKGROUND
Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Clinical practice guidelines for empirical CAP treatment, formulated jointly by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and American Thoracic Society (ATS), remain controversial and inconsistently applied. We evaluated the impact of guideline-concordant therapy on in-hospital survival and other outcomes using a large database including adults treated for CAP in both community and tertiary care hospitals.


METHODS
We evaluated the association between in-hospital survival and guideline-concordant therapy using logistic regression models. Time until discharge from hospital and discontinuation of parenteral therapy were evaluated using survival analysis.


RESULTS
Of 54 619 non-intensive care unit inpatients with CAP hospitalized at 113 community hospitals and tertiary care centers, 35 477 (65%) received initial guideline-concordant therapy. After adjustment for severity of illness and other confounders, guideline-concordant therapy was associated with decreased in-hospital mortality (odds ratio [OR], 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.63-0.77), sepsis (OR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.72-0.96), and renal failure (OR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.67-0.94), and reduced both length of stay and duration of parenteral therapy by approximately 0.6 days (P < .001 for both comparisons). These findings were robust with alternate definitions of "concordance" and were linked to treatment with fluoroquinolone or macrolide agents.


CONCLUSIONS
Guideline-concordant therapy for CAP is associated with improved health outcomes and diminished resource use in adults. The mechanisms underlying this finding remain speculative and warrant further study, but our findings nonetheless support compliance with CAP clinical practice guidelines as a benchmark of quality of care.
McCabe
Caitlin
C
Research Institute of the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON M5G 1E2, Canada.
Kirchner
Cheryl
C
Zhang
Huiling
H
Daley
Jennifer
J
Fisman
David N
DN
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000188:drug therapy; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents