• Cajetan C Onyedum and J C Chukwuka.
• Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, P.M.B. 01129, Enugu Campus, Enugu, Nigeria. cajjonyedum@yahoo.co.uk
• Respir Med. 2011 Feb 1; 105 (2): 298-302.

BackgroundStudies examining the prevalence, baseline characteristics and outcome of patients admitted with Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) are not readily available in Nigeria. This study aims to evaluate the management of CAP at a tertiary hospital in Nigeria with a view to determining the prevalence, characteristics, severity and outcome of the admitted patients.MethodsWe retrospectively collected data from 160 admitted patients with final diagnosis of CAP who met the inclusion criteria. Data relating to their age, gender, clinical details, severity assessment using CURB65 score, laboratory results, initial antibiotics prescribed, and outcome (length of stay, hospital mortality) were collected. Descriptive statistics of demographic and clinical variables were calculated and presented as frequencies, percentage, means, standard deviation and range.ResultsCAP accounted for 2.5% of all medical admissions during the study period. The mean age of the admitted patients was 52.9 ± 18.98 years with about 35% of the patients being at least 65 years and above. Sputum culture, Fasting blood sugar and HIV screening were requested for in 49(30.6%), 50(31.3%) 56(35%) patients respectively. None of the patients had severity score documented on admission and only 32(20%) patients had severity score of ≥ 3 when calculated. Commonly prescribed antibiotics were a combination of intravenous ceftriaxone and metronidazole. Hospital mortality rate was 11.9%ConclusionWe suggest multicenter prospective studies to determine the prevalence and burden of CAP in Nigeria. There is need for an improved assessment and appropriate use of guidelines in the management of patients presenting with CAP.Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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