Effects of Ampicillin/Sulbactam Dose and Dosing Frequency in Elderly Patients with Nursing- and Healthcare-Associated Pneumonia (Nhcap)

Abstract

Japan has the most rapidly aging population in the world. This study aimed to examine the differences in the efficacy of ampicillin/sulbactam (ABPC/SBT) alone under different daily doses and daily dosing frequencies in elderly patients receiving healthcare at home and in elderly nursing home residents with pneumonia onset requiring hospitalization for treatment. By applying the Clinical Practice Guidelines for Nursing- and Healthcare-associated Pneumonia (NHCAP) of the Japanese Respiratory Society (JRS), we retrospectively analyzed clinical data, dose, dosing period, and the efficacy of antimicrobial agents, as well as outcomes of patients with NHCAP or community acquired pneumonia (CAP) who had been hospitalized at our department during the 3-year period of 2009 through 2011. The mean age of NHCAP patients (n=587) was 85 ± 9 years, significantly higher than the 77 ± 16 years of CAP patients (n=319). The serum albumin level in NHCAP patients was significantly lower than that in CAP patients. Among NHCAP patients, 82.5% received ABPC/SBT alone as the first-line therapy, with 50.7% receiving 1.5 g three times daily and 22.8% receiving 3 g twice daily. The mortality rate during hospitalization in the 1.5-g three-times-daily group was 12.4%, resulting in a significantly decrease as compared with the 3-g twice-daily group of 20.9% (p<0.01). In our study, which targeted the elderly in Japan, it was revealed that ABPC/SBT is an appropriate first choice of antibiotics in treating NHCAP and that administering 1.5 g three times daily is a suitable way of administration.