[The short stay unit as an alternative to conventional hospitalisation in the treatment of community acquired pneumonia in the over 75 year-old population].

Introduction: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in elderly patients. The short stay units can be an alternative for patients who need admission with acute illness.

Material And Methods: Descriptive and retrospective study in an Short-Stay Unit (SSU) of a 900-bed tertiary-care teaching hospital in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, Spain.

Period: a total of 22 months from January 2004 to December 2006.

Patients: all patients ≥ 75 years admitted to EDSSU with a diagnosis of CAP. Data were collected for demographic variables, Pneumonia Severity Index score (PSI), microbiological findings, antibiotic treatment, length of stay, mortality rates and new admissions during the 30 days following discharge.

Results: 175 consecutive patients ≥ 75 years with pneumonia were admitted to the EDSSU. Mean age was 84.31 years (range 75-100, SD ± 5.76), 92 (52,5%) were men, with 24 being nursing home residents. According to the PSI, 64 cases (36.6%) were scored as III, 97 (55.4%) as IV and 14 (8%) as V. A positive microbiological result was obtained in 46 cases (26.2%). Length of stay on average was 3.29 days (range 1-10, SD ± 1.56) and 19 patients died (10.8%). Six (3.8%) attended the ED in the 30 days following discharge.

Conclusions: In view of our experience, the EDSSU can be an alternative to standard inpatient for elderly patients with pneumonia in PSI risk class III and IV.