Table 3.
—Selected Characteristics of Patients Hospitalized With AE-COPD Treated Initially With an Antibiotic
| Characteristic | Quinolone, n = 20,441 (49.7%) | Macrolide, n = 3,704 (9%) | Macrolide + CS, n = 8,915 (21.7%) |
| Patient characteristics | |||
| Age, median (IQR),a,b,c y | 70 (61–78) | 70 (60–78) | 71 (62–79) |
| Sexa,c | |||
| Female | 57.0 | 61.0 | 56.0 |
| Racea,b,c | |||
| White | 76.2 | 74.6 | 77.2 |
| Black | 8.6 | 10.6 | 6.4 |
| Hispanic | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.7 |
| Other | 13.0 | 12.4 | 13.7 |
| Principal diagnosisa,c | |||
| AE-COPD | 90.0 | 93.1 | 89.4 |
| Respiratory failure | 10.0 | 6.9 | 10.6 |
| Admissions for COPD or respiratory failure in year priora,b,c | |||
| 0 | 80.7 | 79.4 | 82.6 |
| 1 | 13.3 | 13.8 | 12.3 |
| 2+ | 6.0 | 6.8 | 5.1 |
| Attending specialtya,b,c | |||
| Internal medicine | 54.1 | 56.2 | 55.3 |
| Family/general medicine | 18.9 | 19.1 | 22.1 |
| Pulmonology | 12.4 | 8.8 | 9.1 |
| Hospitalist | 6.8 | 6.8 | 6.2 |
| Hospital characteristics | |||
| Number of bedsa,b,c | |||
| ≤ 200 | 18.8 | 16.7 | 24.0 |
| 201–300 | 17.2 | 17.1 | 17.6 |
| 301–500 | 37.5 | 38.3 | 34.3 |
| > 500 | 26.5 | 27.9 | 24.1 |
| Population serveda,c | |||
| Urban | 81.6 | 88.5 | 82.0 |
| Rural | 18.4 | 11.5 | 18.0 |
| Regiona,b,c | |||
| South | 56.1 | 44.2 | 47.8 |
| Midwest | 19.3 | 19.6 | 19.0 |
| Northeast | 12.1 | 20.3 | 20.9 |
| West | 12.5 | 15.9 | 12.4 |
| Teaching statusa,c | |||
| Nonteaching | 68.9 | 58.8 | 68.2 |
| Teaching | 31.1 | 41.2 | 31.8 |
| Comorbidities | |||
| Diabetes | 26.0 | 25.0 | 26.0 |
| Heart failure | 22.0 | 23.0 | 21.0 |
| Chronic pulmonary diseasea,c | 10.0 | 6.9 | 10.6 |
| Obesityc | 9.0 | 10.0 | 8.5 |
| Renal failure | 7.1 | 7.6 | 7.5 |
| Chronic pulmonary heart disease | 6.8 | 6.9 | 6.4 |
| Alcohol abusea,c | 3.3 | 4.5 | 3.3 |
| Sleep apnea | 2.4 | 2.1 | 2.2 |
| Pulmonary circulation disease | 1.3 | 1.0 | 1.4 |
| Early therapies and tests | |||
| Anticholinergic bronchodilatora,b | 62.0 | 58.0 | 58.0 |
| Short-acting β2-agonistb,c | 80.0 | 79.0 | 76.0 |
| Long acting β2-agonistb,c | 38.0 | 39.0 | 36.0 |
| Methylxanthine bronchodilators | 9.4 | 8.8 | 8.7 |
| High-dose glucocorticoidsa,c | 91.1 | 87.6 | 90.7 |
| Morphineb | 7.4 | 7.0 | 6.4 |
| Loop diureticsb,c | 33.0 | 34.0 | 32.0 |
| Smoking cessation medications | 12.0 | 12.0 | 11.0 |
| Sputum testinga,b,c | 9.8 | 7.9 | 11.7 |
| Arterial blood gasa,c | 44.0 | 38.0 | 43.0 |
| Brain natriuretic peptide | 55.0 | 55.0 | 54.0 |
| Patient outcomes | |||
| In-hospital mortalitya | 1.07 | 0.70 | 0.92 |
| Late ventilation (after day 2) | 0.80 | 1.05 | 0.77 |
| Readmission for COPD within 30 da,b | 5.85 | 4.72 | 4.46 |
| Clostridium difficile readmissiona,c | 0.24 | 0.05 | 0.28 |
| Length of stay, median (IQR),a,b,c d | 4 (3–6) | 4 (3–5) | 4 (3–6) |
| Total cost, median (IQR),b,c US$ | 4,705 (3,367–6,900) | 4,733 (3,339–6,689) | 5,057 (3,634–7,338) |
CS = cephalosporin. See Table 1 legend for expansion of other abbreviations.
a
P value for quinolone vs macrolides < .05.
b
P value for quinolone vs macrolides plus cephalosporins < .05.
c
P value for macrolides vs macrolides plus cephalosporins< .05.