Predicting In-Hospital Outcomes in Children with Pneumonia

Wide variation exists among U.S. hospitals as to whether children presenting to the emergency department with pneumonia are admitted or treated as outpatients. Predicting the severity of community-acquired pneumonia based on presenting signs and symptoms would help providers in optimizing care choices for the patient.

Using a preexisting research database of hospitalizations from 2010 to 2012 for community-acquired pneumonia in children, researchers tested the accuracy of three models for predicting severity of in-hospital outcomes as severe (mechanical ventilation, shock, or death), moderate (intensive care admission only), or mild (non–intensive care admission).

Among 2319 patients (median age, 28 months), 21% had a moderate or severe outco…