These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Clinical pathway care improves outcomes among patients hospitalized for community-acquired pneumonia.
    Author: Hauck LD, Adler LM, Mulla ZD.
    Journal: Ann Epidemiol; 2004 Oct; 14(9):669-75. PubMed ID: 15380798.
    Abstract:
    PURPOSE: To examine the impact of a unique evidence-based clinical pathway on six outcomes of care in patients hospitalized for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of CAP patients discharged between January 1999 and December 2001, from 31 Adventist Health System institutions nationwide. A total of 22,196 records were available for multivariate analyses. Odds ratios (OR) for the outcomes were calculated and stratified by a unique severity score. The severity score ranged from 1 to 5, where 5 indicated the most severe condition. RESULTS: Pathway patients were significantly less likely to die in-hospital compared with non-pathway patients in four of the five severity strata (OR in severity level 1=0.37; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.20-0.70). In all severity strata, pathway patients were approximately twice as likely as non-pathway patients to receive blood cultures and appropriate antibiotic therapy. Among patients who were classified as severity level 1, pathway patients experienced an 80% reduction in the odds of respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation (OR=0.20; 95% CI, 0.12-0.33). CONCLUSIONS: Patients who were placed on pneumonia clinical pathway care were much more likely than non-pathway patients to have favorable outcomes of care.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]