Loading...
The traditional distinction between hospital- and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is blurred by increasing delivery of healthcare outside the hospital setting, leading to creation of a new category, “healthcare-associated pneumonia” (HCAP). However, little information is available on the epidemiology or outcomes of HCAP. Now, investigators in Spain report results from an observational study of patients with pneumonia who were admitted to a single 900-bed hospital from 2001 through 2004. Of 727 cases of pneumonia, 126 (17%) were classified as HCAP (based upon recent receipt of home or outpatient therapy, hemodialysis, or stay in an acute-care hospital or long-term–care facility) and 601 as CAP.
HCAP patients had greater comorbidity than di…