Table 1.
Prevalence of Baseline Patient Characteristics by Timeliness of Initial Antibiotic Therapy*
| Patient Characteristics | % Patients Receiving Antibiotics ≤ 4 Hours (N=1632) |
% Patients Receiving Antibiotics > 4 Hours (N=444) |
% Total Patients (N=2076) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics | |||
| Age ≥51 years | 86.2 | 85.6 | 86.1 |
| Non-white race | 8.1 | 7.9 | 8.0 |
| Female sex | 51.0 | 51.4 | 51.2 |
| Medical insurance | |||
| Medicare or commercial | 84.4 | 82.4 | 84.0 |
| Medicaid | 11.7 | 13.5 | 12.1 |
| Uninsured | 3.9 | 4.1 | 3.9 |
| Living alone | 19.5 | 20.9 | 19.8 |
| Nursing home resident | 6.1 | 4.7 | 5.8 |
| Pneumonia severity index (PSI) | |||
| Class I | 7.3 | 7.9 | 7.4 |
| Class II | 18.9 | 22.7 | 19.7 |
| Class III | 26.7 | 25.7 | 26.5 |
| Class IV | 37.5 | 35.6 | 37.1 |
| Class V | 9.7 | 8.1 | 9.3 |
| Comorbid conditions in PSI | |||
| Neoplastic disease | 3.5 | 4.1 | 3.6 |
| Liver disease | 0.7 | 1.6 | 0.9 |
| Congestive heart failure | 20.3 | 16.4 | 19.5 |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 11.6 | 9.2 | 11.1 |
| Renal disease | 4.5 | 5.6 | 4.8 |
| Other comorbid conditions | |||
| Cognitive impairment | 7.8 | 6.3 | 7.5 |
| History of coronary artery disease | 27.5 | 28.2 | 27.7 |
| Chronic pulmonary disease | 38.4 | 39.9 | 38.7 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 25.0 | 23.0 | 24.6 |
| One or more of the above conditions | 74.6 | 75.5 | 74.8 |
| Vital signs | |||
| Temperature <35°C or ≥40°C | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.3 |
| Pulse ≥125 per minute | 13.2 | 8.6 | 12.3 |
| Respiratory rate ≥ 30/minute (N=2068) | 17.2 | 7.9 | 15.2 |
| Systolic BP <90 mmHg (N=2074) | 2.3 | 2.0 | 2.3 |
| Laboratory findings | |||
| Arterial pH <7.35 (N=2076) | 3.6 | 2.9 | 3.4 |
| BUN ≥ 30mg/dL (N=2023) | 21.7 | 21.5 | 21.7 |
| Sodium <130mEq/L (N=2023) | 5.9 | 4.7 | 5.6 |
| Glucose ≥250 mg/dL (N=2010) | 7.9 | 3.6 | 7.7 |
| Hematocrit <30% (N=2061) | 6.0 | 9.3 | 6.7 |
| Treatments prior to presentation | |||
| Home oxygen therapy | 9.0 | 11.3 | 9.5 |
| Oral or inhaled corticosteroid therapy | 15.4 | 16.7 | 15.7 |
| Antibiotic therapy within 7 days | 14.6 | 18.7 | 15.5 |
| Radiographic findings | |||
| Bilateral radiographic infiltrates (N=2054) | 18.9 | 18.7 | 18.9 |
| Multilobar radiographic infiltrates (N=2053) | 24.3 | 21.9 | 23.8 |
| Pleural effusion (N=2054) | 18.9 | 21.6 | 19.5 |
| Other | |||
| Antibiotic allergy or intolerance | 23.5 | 22.7 | 23.4 |
| Suspected aspiration | 2.0 | 0.7 | 1.2 |
| Physician order limiting resuscitative efforts | 4.2 | 3.6 | 4.1 |
*
Denominators for frequency calculations were based on the entire inpatient population (N=2076) except for vital signs, laboratory, and radiographic findings where, due to missing data, specific denominators are listed.