A study published in American Journal of Infection Control examined the incidence of nonventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia in the U.S.
Researchers used the 2012 U.S. National Inpatient Sample dataset to compare a group of nonventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia patients to four other groups: pneumonia on admission; general hospital admissions; matched on mortality and disease severity; and ventilator-associated pneumonia.
The study shows the overall incidence of nonventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia was 1.6 percent, representing a rate of 3.63 per 1,000 patient-days.
Researchers also found nonventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia was linked to higher total hospital charges, longer lengths of stay and greater likelihood of death when compared to all groups expect the ventilator-associated pneumonia group.
"Nonventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia is an underappreciated and serious patient safety issue, resulting in significant increases in cost, length of stay, and mortality," study authors concluded.