Demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients included
| COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; CRP, C reactive protein; FiO2, fraction of inspired oxygen; GP, general practitioner. | ||
| Numbers included | ||
| Number included in the quality improvement project (Appendix A available online at http://thorax.bmj.com/supplemental gives data on full cohort) | 503 | |
| Number of patients with full data for all four tools | 419 | |
| Demographics | ||
| Sex | 47% male (n = 197) | |
| Age | Median (range) = 74 (16–98) years | |
| Age >65 years = 70% (n = 292) | ||
| Living in own home | 84% (n = 351) | |
| Living alone | 36% (n = 152) | |
| Clinical characteristics | ||
| Antibiotic from GP before admission | 42% (n = 149/356) | |
| CRP >50 | 76.5% (n = 286/374) | |
| Chest radiograph consistentwith pneumonia | 95% (218/230) | |
| Severity assessment on admission | ||
| CURB65 score | ||
| 0 or 1 | 33.5% (n = 140) | |
| 2 | 28.5% (n = 119) | |
| ⩾3 | 38% (n = 160) | |
| Respiratory rate ⩾30/min | 22% (n = 91) | |
| Systolic blood pressure <90 mm Hg | 6% (n = 24) | |
| Diastolic blood pressure ⩽60 mm Hg | 25% (n = 103) | |
| Pulse ⩾125/min | 10% (n = 43) | |
| Pulse oximetry <92% (any FiO2) | 33% (n = 140) | |
| Blood urea >7 mmol/l | 58% (n = 242) | |
| New confusion | 31% (n = 129) | |
| % without comorbidity | 35% (n = 147) | |
| % with asthma/COPD | 35% (n = 146) | |
| Initial antibiotic regimen | ||
| Broad spectrum betalactam + macrolide | 48% (n = 201) | |
| Narrow spectrum betalactam + macrolide | 31% (n = 130) | |
| Betalactam monotherapy | 10% (n = 42) | |
| Macrolide monotherapy | 3% (n = 13) | |
| Levofloxacin | 2% (n = 8) | |
| Others | 6% (n = 25) | |
| Outcomes | ||
| % of patients transferred to theintensive care unit | 3% (n = 13) | |
| 30-day post admission mortality | 19% (n = 79) | |
| Length of hospital stay (excludes deaths) | Median (range) = 5 (0–116) days | |