Tachypnea Is a Poor Predictor of Pneumonia in Children

Tachypnea is often used as a clinical marker for pneumonia in patients of all ages. For children, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends age-specific definitions of tachypnea: age <2 months, respiratory rate (RR) ≥60 breaths per minute (bpm); 2–12 months, RR ≥50 bpm; 1–5 years, RR ≥40 bpm. Researchers assessed the diagnostic value of tachypnea in a prospective observational study of 1622 previously healthy patients aged 5 years and younger who underwent chest radiography for suspected pneumonia at a pediatric emergency department in Boston. Tachypnea was defined by three different measurements: mean triage RR by age group, WHO guidelines, and subjective physician assessment.

Overall, 235 patients (14.5%) had chest radiographs deemed …