Baseline characteristics of adult inpatients with community-acquired pneumonia by testing status and by pathogen detection
| Testing status | Pathogen detection | |||||
| Not tested | Tested | p-value | Not detected | Detected | p-value | |
| Patients | 485 | 3217 | 2044 | 1173 | ||
| Demographic characteristics | ||||||
| Age | 71.0 (54.0–81.0) | 68.0 (54.0–80.0) | 0.03 | 70.0 (55.0–81.0) | 65.0 (50.0–77.0) | <0.01 |
| Male sex | 255 (52.6) | 1888 (58.7) | 0.01 | 1173 (57.4) | 715 (61.0) | 0.04 |
| Underweight | 14 (5.2) | 152 (7.4) | 0.19 | 83 (6.5) | 69 (8.8) | 0.06 |
| Obesity | 64 (13.2) | 513 (15.9) | 0.12 | 314 (15.4) | 199 (17.0) | 0.23 |
| Respiratory past medical history | ||||||
| Active lung cancer | 17 (3.5) | 92 (2.9) | 0.43 | 62 (3.0) | 30 (2.6) | 0.44 |
| Asthma | 26 (5.4) | 235 (7.3) | 0.12 | 149 (7.3) | 86 (7.3) | 0.97 |
| Bronchiectasis | 9 (1.9) | 169 (5.3) | <0.01 | 76 (3.7) | 93 (7.9) | <0.01 |
| Chronic aspiration | 39 (8.0) | 218 (6.8) | 0.31 | 137 (6.7) | 81 (6.9) | 0.83 |
| COPD | 96 (19.8) | 840 (26.1) | 0.01 | 517 (25.3) | 323 (27.5) | 0.16 |
| Current or former smoker | 121 (24.9) | 1124 (34.9) | <0.01 | 709 (34.7) | 415 (35.4) | 0.69 |
| Interstitial lung disease | 4 (0.8) | 91 (2.8) | 0.01 | 65 (3.2) | 26 (2.2) | 0.11 |
| Obstructive sleep apnoea | 7 (1.4) | 123 (3.8) | 0.01 | 78 (3.8) | 45 (3.8) | 0.98 |
| Home oxygen therapy | 14 (2.9) | 210 (6.5) | <0.01 | 123 (6.0) | 87 (7.4) | 0.12 |
| Lung transplant | 0 (0.0) | 7 (0.2) | 0.30 | 2 (0.1) | 5 (0.4) | 0.06 |
| Tracheostomy | 3 (0.6) | 50 (1.6) | 0.11 | 14 (0.7) | 36 (3.1) | <0.01 |
| At least one respiratory comorbidity | 235 (48.5) | 1917 (59.6) | <0.01 | 1434 (56.7) | 718 (61.2) | 0.01 |
| Cardiovascular past medical history | ||||||
| Arrhythmia | 69 (14.2) | 458 (14.2) | 1.00 | 307 (15.0) | 151 (12.9) | 0.09 |
| Coronary artery disease | 69 (14.2) | 528 (16.4) | 0.22 | 325 (15.9) | 203 (17.3) | 0.30 |
| Heart failure | 64 (13.2) | 421 (13.1) | 0.95 | 270 (13.2) | 151 (12.9) | 0.79 |
| Hypertension | 201 (41.4) | 1454 (45.2) | 0.12 | 973 (47.6) | 481 (41.0) | <0.01 |
| Stroke | 55 (11.3) | 251 (7.8) | 0.01 | 168 (8.2) | 83 (7.1) | 0.25 |
| Immunosuppressive conditions | ||||||
| Active solid tumour | 40 (8.2) | 247 (7.7) | 0.66 | 164 (8.0) | 83 (7.1) | 0.33 |
| AIDS | 8 (1.6) | 57 (1.8) | 0.85 | 24 (1.2) | 33 (2.8) | <0.01 |
| Aplastic anaemia | 1 (0.2) | 13 (0.4) | 0.51 | 8 (0.4) | 5 (0.4) | 0.88 |
| Asplenia | 0 (0.0) | 12 (0.4) | 0.18 | 5 (0.2) | 7 (0.6) | 0.12 |
| Chemotherapy in the last 3 months | 9 (1.9) | 136 (4.2) | 0.01 | 83 (4.1) | 53 (4.5) | 0.54 |
| Haematological malignancy | 11 (2.3) | 151 (4.7) | 0.02 | 93 (4.5) | 58 (4.9) | 0.61 |
| HIV infection | 16 (3.3) | 107 (3.3) | 0.98 | 56 (2.7) | 51 (4.3) | 0.01 |
| Neutropenia | 4 (0.8) | 44 (1.4) | 0.32 | 29 (1.4) | 15 (1.3) | 0.74 |
| Steroids use | 24 (4.9) | 270 (8.4) | 0.01 | 174 (8.5) | 96 (8.2) | 0.75 |
| At least one immunosuppressive condition | 74 (15.3) | 591 (18.4) | 0.09 | 356 (17.4) | 235 (20.0) | 0.07 |
| Other chronic medical conditions | ||||||
| Chronic renal failure | 50 (10.3) | 350 (10.9) | 0.71 | 241 (11.8) | 109 (9.3) | 0.03 |
| Cirrhosis | 6 (1.2) | 64 (2.0) | 0.26 | 36 (1.8) | 28 (2.4) | 0.22 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 92 (19.0) | 690 (21.4) | 0.21 | 448 (21.9) | 242 (20.6) | 0.39 |
| Haemodialysis | 1 (0.2) | 51 (1.6) | 0.02 | 32 (1.6) | 19 (1.6) | 0.91 |
| Liver disease | 11 (2.3) | 129 (4.0) | 0.06 | 75 (3.7) | 54 (4.6) | 0.19 |
| Mental illness | 33 (6.8) | 221 (6.9) | 0.96 | 146 (7.1) | 75 (6.4) | 0.42 |
| Dementia | 74 (15.3) | 334 (10.4) | <0.01 | 228 (11.2) | 106 (9.0) | 0.06 |
| Previous infections | ||||||
| Prior ESBL | 0 (0.0) | 55 (1.7) | <0.01 | 27 (1.3) | 28 (2.4) | 0.03 |
| Prior MRSA | 5 (1.0) | 81 (2.5) | 0.04 | 34 (1.7) | 47 (4.0) | <0.01 |
| Prior mycobacterial disease | 7 (1.4) | 89 (2.8) | 0.09 | 42 (2.1) | 47 (4.0) | <0.01 |
| Prior Pseudomonas | 4 (0.8) | 97 (3.0) | <0.01 | 32 (1.6) | 65 (5.5) | <0.01 |
| Previous healthcare exposure# | ||||||
| Lower respiratory tract infection | 106 (21.9) | 935 (29.1) | <0.01 | 667 (26.4) | 374 (31.9) | <0.01 |
| Emergency room admission | 120 (24.7) | 981 (30.5) | 0.01 | 708 (28.0) | 393 (33.5) | <0.01 |
| Hospitalisation | 128 (26.4) | 1035 (32.2) | 0.01 | 771 (30.5) | 392 (33.4) | 0.07 |
| Home antibiotic infusion therapy | 21 (4.3) | 141 (4.4) | 0.96 | 94 (3.7) | 68 (5.8) | <0.01 |
| Intravenous antibiotics | 89 (18.4) | 816 (25.4) | <0.01 | 569 (22.5) | 336 (28.6) | <0.01 |
| Oral antibiotics | 166 (34.2) | 1226 (38.1) | 0.10 | 917 (36.3) | 475 (40.5) | 0.01 |
| Current pneumonia episode | ||||||
| ICU admission | 33 (6.8) | 601 (18.7) | <0.01 | 275 (13.5) | 326 (27.8) | <0.01 |
| Mechanical ventilation | 28 (5.8) | 634 (19.7) | <0.01 | 312 (15.3) | 322 (27.5) | <0.01 |
| Vasopressors | 9 (1.9) | 233 (7.2) | <0.01 | 91 (4.5) | 142 (12.1) | <0.01 |
Data are presented as n, median (interquartile range) or n (%), unless otherwise stated. COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; ESBL: extended-spectrum β-lactamase; MRSA: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; ICU: intensive care unit. #: in the previous 12 months. Bold indicates statistical significance at p<0.05.