Arch Intern Med
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Hospital mortality of patients admitted with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) has been well described. However, the long-term survival of those discharged alive is less clear. We sought to determine long-term survival of patients hospitalized with CAP and compare the outcome with controls hospitalized for reasons other than CAP. ⋯ Almost half of all elderly patients admitted for CAP die in the subsequent year, with most deaths occurring after hospital discharge. The mortality is considerably higher than that of either the general population or a control population hospitalized for reasons other than CAP.
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Several interventions have been shown to be of benefit to patients with stroke (hereafter referred to as stroke patients) in clinical trials, but the net effect of these interventions in the general stroke population has not been established. The purpose of this study was to evaluate temporal trends in the characteristics, treatments, and outcomes of acute stroke patients in the province of Ontario. ⋯ Improvements in the outcomes of stroke patients have occurred in Ontario during the 1990s, despite an increasing proportion of elderly stroke patients with multiple comorbidities. Increasing use of secondary prevention medications may explain this trend.