Outcomes of Pneumonia Treatment in the Elderly by Pulmonologists or Non-Pulmonologists

Takashi Kobayashi; Eiji Abe; Toshiki Abe; Kazuma Kikuchi; Hayato Kinoshita; Ryota Kimura; Hajime Murai; Natsuo Konishi; Kento Okamoto; Takeshi Ino; Keita Ooya; Shin Fukui

Return

Outcomes of Pneumonia Treatment in the Elderly by Pulmonologists or Non-Pulmonologists

VernacularTitle:高齢者肺炎診療に対する取り組み
Author: Takashi KOBAYASHI ¹ ; Eiji ABE ¹ ; Toshiki ABE ¹ ; Kazuma KIKUCHI ¹ ; Hayato KINOSHITA ¹ ; Ryota KIMURA ¹ ; Hajime MURAI ¹ ; Natsuo KONISHI ¹ ; Kento OKAMOTO ¹ ; Takeshi INO ¹ ; Keita OOYA ¹ ; Shin FUKUI ²
Author Information

1. Dept. of Orthopedic Surgery, Akita Kousei Medical Center
2. Dept. of Respiratory Medicine, Akita Kousei Medical Center
From:Journal of the Japanese Association of Rural Medicine 2019;68(1):26-30
CountryJapan
Language:Japanese
Abstract: Pneumonia is common among elderly patients and the incidence among older adults is increasing in aging societies. If pulmonologists were to treat all cases of pneumonia, their work volume would be immense and the risk of burnout would increase. We reviewed cases of consecutive patients 70 years of age or older who were treated for pneumonia between November 2017 and October 2018 at Akita Kousei Medical Center. Of a total of 372 patients recruited for this study (214 men, mean age 85.6 years), 288 patients recovered and 84 (29.2%) died. The duration of admission differed significantly between the cardiovascular department and surgery department (p=0.03), between the renal unit of the internal medicine department and the neurosurgery department (p=0.01), and the renal unit of the internal medicine department and the surgery department (p=0.0005). Outcome was not significantly different among departments. It is crucial that pulmonologists and non-pulmonologists collaborate to treat pneumonia in old adults.