Clinical indicators of radiographic findings in patients with suspected community-acquired pneumonia: who needs a chest x-ray?

Purpose: To develop a prediction rule for the use of chest radiographs in evaluating for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) based on presenting signs and symptoms.

Patients And Methods: Adult patients with acute respiratory symptoms and positive chest radiographic results from October 2004 through April 2005 were enrolled as positive cases (n = 350). An equal number of age-matched controls with acute respiratory symptoms but negative radiographic results were included.