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AHRQ Research Studies
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Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
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1 to 3 of 3 Research Studies DisplayedRothberg MB, Imrey PB, Guo N MB, Imrey PB, Guo N
A risk model to identify Legionella among patients admitted with community-acquired pneumonia: a retrospective cohort study.
This study’s goal was to derive and externally validate a model to predict a positive Legionella test among adult inpatients diagnosed with pneumonia. The study used data from 177 US hospitals in the Premier Healthcare Database and 12 Cleveland Clinic Health System (CCHS) hospitals. Of 166,689 patients hospitalized for pneumonia, out of 43,070 tested for Legionella 642 (1.5%) tested positive. The strongest predictors of a positive test were a local outbreak, June-October occurrence, hyponatremia, smoking and diarrhea. A negative test was associated with prior admission within 6 months and chronic pulmonary disease.
AHRQ-funded; HS024277.
Citation: Rothberg MB, Imrey PB, Guo N MB, Imrey PB, Guo N .
A risk model to identify Legionella among patients admitted with community-acquired pneumonia: a retrospective cohort study.
J Hosp Med 2022 Aug;17(8):624-32. doi: 10.1002/jhm.12919..
Keywords: Pneumonia, Community-Acquired Infections, Infectious Diseases, Respiratory Conditions
Haessler S, Lindenauer PK, Zilberberg MD
Blood cultures versus respiratory cultures: 2 different views of pneumonia.
This study examined characteristics and outcomes of patients with positive cultures for pneumonia by site. The authors compared results from blood and respiratory cultures to see if organisms and resistance patterns differed by site. They studied adult patients discharged from July 2010 to June 2015 with principal diagnoses of pneumonia, respiratory failure, acute respiratory distress syndrome, respiratory arrest, or sepsis with a secondary diagnosis of pneumonia. Out of 138,651 hospitalizations of patients with pneumonia, 9.3% yielded positive cultures with 6438 from respiratory culture and 5992 blood cultures, and 45 both respiratory and blood cultures. Isolates from respiratory samples were often more resistant than were isolates from blood. Patients with positive cultures in both sites had higher case-fatality, longer lengths of stay and higher costs than patients who only had one culture site positive. Among respiratory cultures, the most common pathogens identified were Staphylococcus aureus (34%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (17%), whereas blood cultures most commonly grew Streptococcus pneumoniae (33%), followed by S. aureus (22%).
AHRQ-funded; HS024277.
Citation: Haessler S, Lindenauer PK, Zilberberg MD .
Blood cultures versus respiratory cultures: 2 different views of pneumonia.
Clin Infect Dis 2020 Oct 23;71(7):1604-12. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciz1049..
Keywords: Pneumonia, Community-Acquired Infections, Respiratory Conditions, Infectious Diseases
Linder JA
Sore throat: avoid overcomplicating the uncomplicated.
In this editorial, the author described issues involving sore throat diagnosis and delineated various points concerning an article within the same journal issue, concluding that physicians should remember that the prevalence of group A streptococcus in adults with a sore throat is approximately 10%; and that they should use the Centor scoring criteria; selectively use rapid antigen-detection testing; limit antibiotic treatment to patients most likely to have group A streptococcus; and most of the time when prescribing antibiotics, use penicillin.
AHRQ-funded; HS018419.
Citation: Linder JA .
Sore throat: avoid overcomplicating the uncomplicated.
Ann Intern Med 2015 Feb 17;162(4):311-2. doi: 10.7326/m14-2899.
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Keywords: Antibiotics, Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Infectious Diseases, Medication, Pneumonia, Respiratory Conditions, Practice Patterns