Following guideline-recommended therapy for pediatric patients with community-acquired pneumonia was not associated with improved clinical outcomes, according to a study in Journal of Hospital Medicine.
Researchers analyzed data on children aged 3 month to 18 years with CAP who were hospitalized from May 2, 2011 to July 30, 2012.
They found empiric guideline-recommended therapy was applied to 76 percent of the patients. The differences in clinical outcomes — length of stay, cost of hospitalization and inpatient pharmacy cost — for patients who received guideline-recommended therapy and those who did not were not statistically significant.
Researchers concluded using guideline-recommended antibiotic therapy was not associated with improved clinical outcomes for pediatric patients with CAP.
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