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. 2013 Feb 19;68(6):544–550. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2012-202658

Table 1.

Characteristics of confirmed pneumonia cases by residence, before and after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, Kesennuma City, Miyagi, Japan

Pre-disaster period (1 March 2010–10 March 2011)† Post-disaster period (11 March–30 June 2011)†
Residential category* Residential category** Pre-disaster vs post-disaster period p Value‡
Characteristics Total (n=225) Home (n=193) Nursing home (n=32) Total (n=217) Home (n=117) Nursing home (n=40) Evacuation shelter (n=60)
Female sex (%) 98 (43.6) 77 (39.9) 21 (65.6) 93 (42.9) 46 (39.3) 26 (65) 21 (35) 0.882
Age category (%)
 18–49 years 13 (5.8) 12 (6.2) 1 (3.1) 4 (1.8) 3 (2.6) 0 (0) 1 (1.7) 0.161§
 50–64 years 21 (9.3) 20 (10.4) 1 (3.1) 18 (8.3) 10 (8.6) 3 (7.5) 5 (8.3)
 65–79 years 61 (27.1) 56 (29) 5 (15.6) 67 (30.9) 32 (27.4) 6 (15) 29 (48.3)
 ≥80 years 130 (57.8) 105 (54.4) 25 (78.1) 128 (59) 72 (61.5) 31 (77.5) 25 (41.7)
Duration of symptoms before admission (%)
 ≤2 days 109 (48.4) 91 (47.2) 18 (56.3) 114 (52.5) 59 (50.4) 25 (62.5) 30 (50) 0.434
 3 days or more 109 (48.4) 96 (49.7) 13 (40.6) 98 (45.2) 54 (46.2) 14 (35) 30 (50)
Antibiotics prescribed before admission (%) 32 (14.2) 23 (11.9) 9 (28.1) 29 (13.4) 7 (6) 10 (25) 12 (20) 0.794
With underlying conditions (%) 129 (57.3) 107 (55.4) 22 (68.7) 121 (55.8) 64 (54.7) 30 (75) 27 (45) 0.739
CURB65 score (%)
 3–5 (severe) 26 (11.6) 23 (11.9) 3 (9.4) 27 (12.4) 10 (8.6) 13 (32.5) 4 (6.7) 0.916
 0–2 (less severe) 186 (82.7) 159 (82.4) 27 (84.4) 179 (82.5) 97 (82.9) 26 (65) 56 (93.3)
Deceased (%) 39 (17.3) 31 (16.1) 8 (25) 52 (24) 28 (23.9) 18 (45) 6 (10) 0.085
Microbiological tests performed 145 (64.4) 129 (66.8) 16 (50) 139 (64.1) 74 (63.3) 22 (55) 43 (71.7) 0.932
Positive for Streptococcus pneumoniae 15 (6.7) 13 (6.7) 2 (6.3) 22 (10.1) 9 (7.7) 4 (10) 9 (15) 0.402
Positive for Haemophilus influenzae 3 (1.3) 3 (1.5) 0 (0) 14 (6.5) 7 (6) 0 (0) 7 (11.7) 0.013§
Positive for Klebsiella pneumoniae 8 (3.6) 6 (3.1) 2 (6.2) 11 (5.1) 5 (4.3) 4 (10) 2 (3.3) 0.698

*The characteristics differed by residential categories for gender (p=0.007) and pre-hospital antibiotic treatment (p=0.015).

†The pre-disaster and pos-disaster cases were categorised according to the date of onset. The near-drowning-related cases were excluded.

‡Characteristics were compared between the pre-disaster and post-disaster cases. χ2 tests were performed unless otherwise indicated.

§Fisher's exact test.

¶Either a bacterial culture was isolated or a rapid urinary antigen test was positive.

**The characteristics differed by residential categories for gender (p=0.006), age group (p=0.012), pre-hospital antibiotic treatment (p=0.002), presence of underlying conditions (p=0.012), clinical severity (p<0.001) and fatality (p<0.001).