Clinical sign and biomarker-based algorithm to identify bacterial pneumonia among outpatients with lower respiratory tract infection in Tanzania

Table 5 Among all patients who received antibiotics: comparison of the characteristics of the patients classified as having a bacterial pneumonia by the algorithm (combining respiratory rate and procalcitonin) to those classified as not having a bacterial pneumonia

	Patients received antibiotics during routine care
	Algorithm classify patients as not having a bacterial pneumonia (does not recommend antibiotics) (n = 27)	Algorithm classify patients as having a bacterial pneumonia (recommends antibiotics) (n = 28)	P value
Age, years	32 (29–42)	28 (23–36)	0.032
Female sex	11 (41%)	14 (50%)	0.491
HIV-1	7 (26%)	16 (57%)	0.019
Sepsis / septic shock^a	4 (15%)	10 (36%)	0.121
Symptoms and signs
Cough	24 (89%)	27 (96%)	0.352
Dyspnoea	7 (26%)	13 (46%)	0.114
Chest pain	8 (30%)	7 (25%)	0.700
Respiratory rate, /min	25 (23–27)	35 (26–38)	0.000
Abnormal auscultation	10 (37%)	7 (25%)	0.334
Saturation, %	96 (95–97)	96 (94–97)	0.129
Systolic BP, mmHg	121 (113–132)	102 (96–114)	0.000
Heart rate, /min	105 (87–113)	121 nn	0.002
Pneumonia clinical scores
CRB-65 score^b ≥ 2	1 (4%)	9 (32%)	0.012
Van Vugt-score^c, high	15 (56%)	24 (86%)	0.019
Diagnosis
Bronchitis	17 (63%)	11 (40%)	0.079
Viral pneumonia	9 (33%)	2 (7%)	0.020
Bacterial pneumonia	1 (4%)	15 (54%)	0.000
Management and outcome
Admission	4 (15%)	12 (43%)	0.037
28-day mortality	1 (4%)	2 (7%)	1.000

Bold values indicate a significant difference between the groups
Data are number (%) of patients or median (interquartile range)
^aSepsis/septic shock: sofa score of ≥ 2 points. ^bCRB-65 score defined as one point for each of the following: Glasgow Coma Score < 15, respiratory rate ≥ 30/min, systolic blood pressure < 90 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure ≤ 60 mmHg, age ≥ 65. ^cVan Vugt score was defined as one point for each of the following: absence of runny nose, presence of dyspnea, presence of crackles or diminished breath by auscultations, temperature ≥ 37.8 °C or heart rate > 100/min. High score was defined as ≥ 3 points

ISSN: 1471-2334