Prevalence and impact of Diabetes mellitus (DM) among hospitalized community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) patients

Abstract

Introduction: Respiratory infections are frequently associated with DM with general measures as well as flu and pneumococcal vaccination being recommended for people with DM. Portugal presents one of the highest prevalence rates of DM within Europe. Objectives: We have carried out a retrospective, nation-wide register analysis of hospitalized patients that aims to estimate the prevalence of DM among CAP patients and evaluate the impact of DM in CAP hospitalizations. Methods: Anonymized data from 158,377 CAP adult patients(2009-2012) were extracted from the National Hospital Discharge Database. Patients included in the study had CAP as main diagnosis on admission within the age range 20-79 that matched the National Diabetes Prevalence Study. Results: Within the 74,175 CAP episodes matching the inclusion criteria we found a high burden of DM that tended to increase over time (23.7% in 2009 to 28.1% in 2012). Importantly, the DM prevalence in CAP patients was significantly higher when compared to the national DM prevalence ( P P vs without DM (13.5%) ( P =0.002). Conclusions: Our data show a significant increase in the prevalence of DM in subjects hospitalized with CAP, along with a longer hospitalization time and higher mortality rates in CAP patients with DM. These results reinforce the relevance of DM as a risk factor for CAP and have informative value for strategies of patient awareness and future healthcare guidance. Funding: Pfizer Grant to Ernesto Roma Foundation.