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Do we correctly diagnose pneumonia?

April 5, 2008

Archives of Internal Medicine has another important article on pneumonia diagnosis - Antibiotic Timing and Errors in Diagnosing Pneumonia.
Background :The percentage of patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) whose time to first antibiotic dose (TFAD) is less than 4 hours of presentation to the emergency department (ED) has been made a core quality measure, and public reporting has been instituted. This study looks at whether these time pressures might also have negative effects on the accuracy of diagnosis of pneumonia.
Conclusion :Reduction in the required TFAD from 8 to 4 hours seems to reduce the accuracy by which ED physicians diagnose pneumonia, while failing to reduce the actual TFAD achieved for patients.

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