title: Prescription of antibiotics for adults hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia in Korea in 2004: a population-based descriptive study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is generally considered to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality. There is much controversy regarding the optimal choice of antibiotics for patients with CAP. The aim of this study was to identify the antibiotics prescribed for adults hospitalized with CAP in Korea during a calendar year.
  
  
  METHODS
  This population-based, descriptive epidemiological study was performed using data from nationwide health insurance claims from 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2004. The study population was adults (≥18 years old), who had been hospitalized with CAP as determined by discharge diagnosis, and who had been treated with antibiotics for ≥3 days. The exclusion criteria were tuberculosis, underlying malignancies and potential nosocomial pneumonia, based on the department providing care, or surgery reports during the admission.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 5592 adults hospitalized with CAP, data for 3662 (65.5%) patients was eligible for inclusion in the analysis. This included data for 1899 (51.9%) males, and 2045 (55.8%) patients ≥65 years of age. The most frequently prescribed antimicrobial regimen was β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitors and fluoroquinolones in combination (31.0%), followed by β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitors plus macrolides (30.2%), monotherapy (17.0%), β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitors plus aminoglycosides (12.9%), β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitors plus clindamycin (4.9%), and cephalosporins plus fluoroquinolones (2.5%). Monotherapy included, in decreasing order of use, cephalosporins (6.0%), fluoroquinolones (3.5%), β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitors (2.3%) and macrolides (2.2%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, patterns of antimicrobial prescription for patients hospitalized with CAP were assessed for the first time in Korea. There was divergence from the 2009 Korean guidelines for the treatment of CAP, reinforcing the need for assessment of physicians' adherence to the guidelines.
authors: Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors: Young Kyung
authors: YK
authors: Yoon
authors: Eun Ju
authors: EJ
authors: Kim
authors: Byung Chul
authors: BC
authors: Chun
authors: Joong Sik
authors: JS
authors: Eom
authors: Dae Won
authors: DW
authors: Park
authors: Jang Wook
authors: JW
authors: Sohn
authors: Min Ja
authors: MJ
authors: Kim
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002511:Cephalosporins / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002981:Clindamycin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000188:drug therapy; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D024841:Fluoroquinolones / Q000008:administration & dosage; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D065093:beta-Lactamase Inhibitors
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D002511:Cephalosporins; D024841:Fluoroquinolones; D065093:beta-Lactamase Inhibitors; D002981:Clindamycin