title: Pneumonia in the elderly hospitalized in the Department of Veteran Affairs Health Care System.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, TX 78229-3900, USA.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Selinger
authors.forename: Marcos I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Restrepo
authors.forename: Laurel A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Copeland
authors.forename: Mary Jo V
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Pugh
authors.forename: Brandy
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nakashima
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Downs
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Anzueto
authors.forename: Eric M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Mortensen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D058109:Airway Management / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006787:Hospitals, Veterans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D012121:Respiration, Artificial / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014728:Veterans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*