Guideline-concordant treatment still unlikely in nonchildren’s hospitals for pediatric CAP

Guideline-concordant antibiotic treatment for pediatric community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) was significantly less likely in a nonchildren’s hospital, according to new research.

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“This gap is concerning because approximately 70% of children hospitalized with pneumonia receive care in nonchildren’s hospitals,” wrote Alison C. Tribble, MD, of C. S. Mott Children’s Hospital, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and her associates. The report is in JAMA Pediatrics.

Data were collected from the Pediatric Health Information System (children’s hospitals) and Premier Perspectives (all hospitals) databases and included a total of 120,238 children aged 1-17 years diagnosed with CAP between Jan. 1, 2009, and Sept. 30, 2015. Before the publication of the new guideline in October 2011, the probability of receiving what would become guideline-concordant antibiotics was 0.25 in children’s hospitals and 0.06 in nonchildren’s hospitals.

By the end of the study period, the probability of receiving guideline-concordant antibiotics for pediatric CAP was 0.61 in children’s hospitals and 0.27 in nonchildren’s hospitals. Without the interventions, the probabilities would have been 0.31 and 0.08, respectively. The rate of growth over the 4-year postintervention period was similar in both children’s and nonchildren’s hospitals.

“Studies in children’s hospitals have suggested that local implementation efforts may be important in facilitating guideline uptake. Nonchildren’s hospitals likely have fewer resources to lead pediatric-specific efforts, and care may be influenced by adult CAP guidelines,” the authors noted.

No conflicts of interest were reported.

lfranki@mdedge.com

SOURCE: Tribble AC et al. JAMA Pediatr. 2018 Dec 10. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2018.4270.