Community acquired pneumonia in hospitalized subjects: a comparative studybetween elderly and young adults

OBJECTIVES: Compare clinical, radiological and evolutionaryaspects among young and elderly patientshospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia. METHOD:A cross sectional study was performed in orderto analyze all patients aged 18 years and above, admittedin the hospital with community acquired pneumonia.Exclusion criteria were: patients discharged fromhospital within thirty days before the current hospitalization,previous use of antibiotics for more than fivedays, those with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome,those using immunosuppressive drugs, as well asthose who did not agree to participate in this study. Registeredvariables included risk factors, socio-demographicconditions, clinical signs and symptoms, radiologicalfindings and hospital discharge conditions. Patientswere classified into two age groups: between 18 and59 years and over 60 years old. RESULTS: Thirty-threesubjects were studied; mean age was 67.6 years (SD± 13.8); 18 (54.5%) were male. Among the participantpatients, 22 (66.7%) were considered elderly and 11(33.3%) young adults. Bronchial asthma and headachewere more common in young adults (p <0.05). Dyspnea,ICU stay and death were more common in the elderlygroup (p <0.05). CONCLUSION: The clinical course wasmore unfavorable in the elderly group, with the largestnumber of ICU admissions and deaths. The clinical andradiological characteristics were similar in both groups,differing in the prevalence of headache, more commonin young people, and dyspnea, more frequent in the elderlygroup.