TABLE 4.
Microbiological tests performed among adult inpatients with community-acquired pneumonia by geographic area
| Continent | Rest of the world | p-value | |
| Blood culture | |||
| North America | 434 (82.0) | 2199 (69.3) | <0.01 |
| South America | 202 (92.7) | 2431 (69.8) | <0.01 |
| Africa | 65 (41.7) | 2568 (72.4) | <0.01 |
| Asia | 294 (70.8) | 2339 (71.2) | 0.89 |
| Europe | 1609 (68.6) | 1024 (75.4) | <0.01 |
| Oceania | 29 (72.5) | 2604 (71.1) | 0.85 |
| Sputum culture | |||
| North America | 286 (54.1) | 2001 (63.1) | <0.01 |
| South America | 95 (43.6) | 2192 (62.9) | <0.01 |
| Africa | 92 (59.0) | 2195 (61.9) | 0.46 |
| Asia | 305 (73.5) | 1982 (60.3) | <0.01 |
| Europe | 1496 (63.8) | 791 (58.2) | <0.01 |
| Oceania | 13 (32.5) | 2274 (62.1) | <0.01 |
| Bronchoalveolar lavage culture | |||
| North America | 68 (12.9) | 244 (7.7) | <0.01 |
| South America | 15 (6.9) | 297 (8.5) | 0.40 |
| Africa | 10 (6.4) | 302 (8.5) | 0.35 |
| Asia | 48 (11.6) | 264 (8.0) | 0.02 |
| Europe | 171 (7.3) | 141 (10.4) | <0.01 |
| Oceania | 0 (0.0) | 312 (8.5) | 0.05 |
| Pleural fluid culture | |||
| North America | 13 (2.5) | 104 (3.3) | 0.32 |
| South America | 13 (6.0) | 104 (3.3) | 0.02 |
| Africa | 12 (7.7) | 105 (3.0) | <0.01 |
| Asia | 12 (2.9) | 105 (3.2) | 0.74 |
| Europe | 67 (2.9) | 50 (3.7) | 0.17 |
| Oceania | 0 (0.0) | 117 (3.2) | 0.25 |
| Pneumococcal urinary antigen | |||
| North America | 55 (10.4) | 1055 (33.2) | <0.01 |
| South America | 17 (7.8) | 1093 (31.4) | <0.01 |
| Africa | 2 (1.3) | 1108 (31.2) | <0.01 |
| Asia | 22 (5.3) | 1088 (33.1) | <0.01 |
| Europe | 1014 (43.3) | 96 (7.1) | <0.01 |
| Oceania | 0 (0.0) | 1110 (30.3) | <0.01 |
| Legionella urinary antigen | |||
| North America | 93 (17.6) | 1020 (32.1) | <0.01 |
| South America | 1 (0.5) | 1112 (31.9) | <0.01 |
| Africa | 1 (0.6) | 1112 (31.4) | <0.01 |
| Asia | 30 (7.2) | 1083 (32.9) | <0.01 |
| Europe | 988 (42.2) | 125 (9.2) | <0.01 |
| Oceania | 0 (0.0) | 1113 (30.4) | <0.01 |
| Acute-phase serology | |||
| North America | 22 (4.2) | 303 (9.5) | <0.01 |
| South America | 11 (5.0) | 314 (9.0) | 0.04 |
| Africa | 9 (5.8) | 316 (8.9) | 0.18 |
| Asia | 17 (4.1) | 308 (9.4) | <0.01 |
| Europe | 263 (11.2) | 62 (4.6) | <0.01 |
| Oceania | 3 (7.5) | 322 (8.8) | 0.77 |
| Viral testing | |||
| North America | 83 (15.7) | 470 (14.8) | 0.60 |
| South America | 25 (11.5) | 528 (15.2) | 0.14 |
| Africa | 2 (1.3) | 551 (15.5) | <0.01 |
| Asia | 78 (18.8) | 475 (14.5) | 0.02 |
| Europe | 361 (15.4) | 192 (14.1) | 0.30 |
| Oceania | 4 (10.0) | 549 (15.0) | 0.38 |
| At least one test done | |||
| North America | 489 (92.4) | 2728 (86.0) | <0.01 |
| South America | 204 (93.6) | 3013 (86.5) | <0.01 |
| Africa | 128 (82.1) | 3089 (87.1) | 0.07 |
| Asia | 406 (97.8) | 2811 (85.5) | <0.01 |
| Europe | 1955 (83.4) | 1262 (92.9) | <0.01 |
| Oceania | 35 (87.5) | 3182 (86.9) | 0.91 |
Data are presented as n (%), unless otherwise stated. Bold indicates statistical significance at p<0.05.