Adecuada utilización de la escala curb-65 en el manejo de adultos mayores con neumonía recibidos en el servicio de emergencia. Hospital José Carrasco Arteaga. Cuenca. 2016

Abstract

Background: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a pathology that potentially endangers the patient's life, and has a significant economic impact. The CURB-65 scale is recommended by the British Thoracic Society to predict mortality and patient admission; however, there are no studies in our locality to evaluate the proper use of the scale. Objective: to evaluate the adequate use of the CURB-65 scale in the management of elderly patients with CAP in the emergency service of José Carrasco Arteaga Hospital, January-June 2016. Methodology: a retrospective, analytical and scale evaluation study was performed in 180 Clinical Histories of elderly patients diagnosed with community acquired pneumonia who attended the José Carrasco Arteaga Hospital emergency in the first half of 2016. It was applied chi-square statistic test and relative risk (RR) to determine association between variables. Results: The therapeutic decision applied in the patients was ambulatory in 62.2% and hospital in 37.8%. The CURB-65 scale recommended an ambulatory treatment in 71.7% and hospital treatment in 28.3% of the patients. Hospitalized patients have 6.3 times higher probabilities to have a classification of CURB-65 to hospitalization. 27.2% of the elderly with acquired pneumonia in the community receive inadequate treatment according to the CURB-65 scale. Conclusions: A considerable amount of 27.2% of the patients receive an inadequate treatment according to the recommendations of the CURB-65, so this scale should be applied in a protocolized management in all patients with community-acquired pneumonia