TABLE 2.

Diagnostic Testing and Treatment Within 48 Hours of Admission in Children With NI Hospitalized for Pneumonia

Characteristic	Overall Cohort (n = 27455)		Aspiration Pneumonia (n = 2659)		Nonaspiration Pneumonia (n = 24796)		P a
	n	%	n	%	n	%
Laboratory Testing
Complete blood count	19 262	70.2	2198	82.7	17 064	68.8	<.001
Blood culture	16 041	58.4	1779	66.9	14 262	57.5	<.001
Chemistry profile	11 967	43.6	1522	57.2	10 445	42.1	<.001
Viral study	10 481	38.2	1091	41.0	9390	37.9	.001
C-reactive protein	7277	26.5	780	29.3	6497	26.2	.001
Blood gas	7166	26.1	1220	45.9	5946	24.0	<.001
Urine culture	4136	15.1	732	27.5	3404	13.7	<.001
Respiratory culture	2157	7.9	414	15.6	1743	7.0	<.001
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate	1544	5.6	144	5.4	1400	5.6	.620
Coagulation study	1492	5.4	234	8.8	1258	5.1	<.001
Liver function test	645	2.3	126	4.7	519	2.1	<.001
Radiographic imaging
Chest radiograph	23 793	86.7	2440	91.8	21 353	86.1	<.001
Chest computed tomography	650	2.4	33	1.2	617	2.5	<.001
Chest ultrasound	453	1.6	15	0.6	438	1.8	<.001
Treatment
Empirical antimicrobial coverage							<.001
Pneumococcal	16 777	61.1	303	11.4	16 474	66.4
Pneumococcal and anaerobic	6107	22.2	1820	68.4	4287	17.3
Other combinations	2509	9.1	99	3.7	2410	9.7
Pneumococcal, anaerobic, and antipseudomonal	2062	7.5	437	16.4	1625	6.6
Adjunct therapy
Inhaled β agonist	18 784	68.4	1830	68.8	16954	68.4	.640
Inhaled corticosteroids	7737	28.2	1182	44.5	6555	26.4	<.001
Systemic steroids	78	0.3	8	0.3	70	0.3	.860

^aP value for χ² test for categorical variables and for Wilcoxon rank sum test for continuous variables.