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Community-acquired pneumonia: doctors do not follow national guidelines

Objectives: Appropriate assessment of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) allows accurate severity scoring and hence optimal management, leading to reduced morbidity and mortality. British Thoracic Society (BTS) guidelines provide an appropriate score. Adherence to BTS guidelines was assessed in our...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Postgraduate medical journal 2007-08, Vol.83 (982), p.552-555
Main Authors: Collini, Paul, Beadsworth, Mike, Anson, Jim, Neal, Tim, Burnham, Peter, Deegan, Paul, Beeching, Nick, Miller, Alastair
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Objectives: Appropriate assessment of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) allows accurate severity scoring and hence optimal management, leading to reduced morbidity and mortality. British Thoracic Society (BTS) guidelines provide an appropriate score. Adherence to BTS guidelines was assessed in our medical assessment unit (MAU) in 2001/2 and again in 2005/6, 3 years after introducing an educational programme. Methods: A retrospective case-note study, comparing diagnosis, documentation of severity, management and outcome of CAP during admission to MAU during 3 months of each winter in 2001/2 and 2005/6. Results: In 2001/2, 65/165 patients were wrongly coded as CAP and 100 were included in the study. In 2005/6 43/130 were excluded and 87 enrolled. In 2005/6, 87% did not receive a severity score, a significant increase from 48% in 2001/2 (p
ISSN:0032-5473
1469-0756
DOI:10.1136/pgmj.2006.056556