The risk factors important for non - ICU nosocomial pneumonia

Abstract

Introduction: Nosocomial pneumonia (NP) is the 2nd most frequent cause of nosocomial infection. About half of the cases of NP occur outside ICU and differ from ventilator-associated pneumonia in several aspects. The most important risk factors for this NP are: age > 60 years old, important comorbidities (COPD, diabetes mellitus and heart failure), prior antibiotic treatment, the use of nasogastric tube and length of hospitalization > 11 days. Purpose and Objectives: To analyze the known risk factors important for non-ICU HAP. Materials and methods: Our study was performed in the medical and surgical wards of the Republican Clinical Hospital and the Institute of Phthisiopneumology “Chiril Draganiuc” and included 22 patients: 13 (59,1%) were from general wards and 9 (40,9%) - from surgical wards. Conclusion: The most frecquent risk factors for non-ICU NP observed in our study were similar to those considered in the literature. Most patients were older than 60 years old, had 2 and more comorbidities, mainly heart failure and diabetes. We also frequently found some extrinsic risk factors that have been described as very important for colonization with resistant microorganisms: prior AB treatment, surgery and prolonged hospitalization. We consider that the small number of patients is a considerable limitation for our study.