Hospital-acquired pneumonia outwith the ICU
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Clinical characteristics of hospital-acquired pneumonia outwith the ICU
IRAS ID
270477
Contact name
Clark D Russell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Edinburgh
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 30 days
Research summary
Hospital acquired pneumonia (HAP) is defined as new onset pneumonia acquired in hospital (>48 hours after admission) and is usually considered to be caused by hospital acquired bacteria that can be resistant to commonly used antibiotics. Therefore broad spectrum antibiotics are often recommended for treating HAP. However, much of the research these assumptions are based on pertains to patients in the intensive care unit (ICU), often on receiving breathing support via a ventilator. HAP occurring in patients outwith the ICU is relatively under-studied, because it can be hearder to identify patients systematically.
We think it is important to conduct more descriptive research into HAP outwith the ICU since it is likely to be different, in some cases due to different bacteria, and narrower spectrum antibiotics could be appropriate. We have already identified a way to systematically identify these patients, by searching chest x-ray reports, and can therefore identify all such patients without introducing any bias.
The aim of this study is therefore to collect descriptive data about patients with HAP outwith the ICU. This information will be valuable for all hospital doctors looking after such patients, and in particular for infection specialists involved in developing hospital antibiotic guidelines.
REC name
West of Scotland REC 1
REC reference
19/WS/0152
Date of REC Opinion
7 Oct 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion