Characteristics of patients treated acutely with systemic steroids and antibiotics
| Acute systemic steroid administration | p-value | ||
| No antibiotic treatment | Antibiotic treatment | ||
| Subjects | 238 | 70 | |
| Age yrs | 79.3±10.3 | 78.6±8.84 | ns |
| Sex male | 151 (63) | 60 (85) | <0.001 |
| Charlson index | 2.32±1.7 | 2.5±1.6 | ns |
| Comorbidities | |||
| COPD | 50 (21) | 47 (67) | <0.001 |
| Cancer | 39 (16) | 10 (14) | ns |
| Chronic liver disease | 22 (9) | 4(6) | ns |
| Diabetes mellitus | 45 (19) | 16(23) | ns |
| Mean of FEV1 in COPD patients | 46.4±13.1 | 42.8±12.8 | ns |
| ICU admission | 9 (4) | 2 (3) | ns |
| CAP treated with monotherapy | 81 (34) | 19 (27) | ns |
| CAP aetiology | ns | ||
| Streptococcus pneumoniae | 88 (37) | 26 (37) | |
| Legionella pneumophila | 7 (3) | 1 (1) | |
| Others | 18 (8) | 8 (11) | |
| Unknown | 128 (53) | 37 (53) | |
| Class V of PSI | 74 (31) | 23 (32) | ns |
| Hypotension | 17 (7) | 3 (4) | ns |
| Mortality | 13 (5) | 5 (7) | ns |
Data are presented as n, mean±sd or n (%), unless otherwise stated. COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in one second; ICU: intensive care unit; CAP: community-acquired pneumonia; PSI: prognostic severity index; ns: nonsignificant.