Patients with community acquired pneumonia discharged from the emergency department according to a clinical practice guideline

• Published in: Emergency medicine journal : EMJ 2004-11, Vol.21 (6), p.667-669
• Main Authors: Campbell, S G, Patrick, W, Urquhart, D G, Maxwell, D M, Ackroyd-Stolarz, S A, Murray, D D, Hawass, A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Age; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Audits; CAP; Clinical medicine; clinical practice guideline; community acquired pneumonia; Community-Acquired Infections - mortality; Community-Acquired Infections - therapy; CPG; discharge; emergency department; Emergency medical care; Emergency Service, Hospital; Female; guideline; Humans; Male; Medical Audit - methods; Middle Aged; Mortality; Original; Patient Discharge; Patient Readmission; Pneumonia - mortality; Pneumonia - therapy; pneumonia severity index; Practice Guidelines as Topic; PSI; Retrospective Studies; Safety; Severity of Illness Index
• ISSN: 1472-0205; 1472-0213
• DOI: 10.1136/emj.2003.011833

Objectives: To assess the safety of discharging patients with community acquired pneumonia (CAP) according to a clinical practice guideline. Methods: A systematic retrospective review of medical records of 867 adult patients discharged from an emergency department (ED) with CAP between 3 January 1999 and 3 January 2001. Readmission or death rates within 30 days of discharge were evaluated, using data from all local hospitals and from the provincial coroner. Results: Of 685 patients with pneumonia severity index (PSI) scores of 90 were 7.14% (13 of 182) and 9.34% (17 of 182), respectively. Conclusion: Adult patients with CAP discharged from the ED according to the recommendations of a clinical practice guideline based on the PSI have low readmission and death rates, and are generally safely managed as outpatients.