QJM : monthly journal of the Association of Physicians
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Meta Analysis
Predicting mortality with severity assessment tools in out-patients with community-acquired pneumonia.
In community-acquired pneumonia, severity assessment tools, such as CRB65, CURB65 and Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI), have been promoted to increase the proportion of patients treated in the community. The prognostic accuracy of these scores is established in hospitalized patients, but less is known about their use in out-patients. We aimed to study the accuracy of these severity tools to predict mortality in patients managed as out-patients. ⋯ The limited data available suggest that CRB65 and PSI can identify groups of patients at low risk of mortality that can be safely managed in the community.