Clinical impact of broad-spectrum empirical antibiotic therapy in patients with healthcare-associated pneumonia: a multicenter interventional study

Healthcare-associated pneumonia (HCAP) has been proposed as a new category of pneumonia distinct from community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). A multicenter observational study in 2008 finds that patients with HCAP have a mortality rate significantly higher than patients with CAP, and a worse outcome is associated at logistic regression analysis with a low adherence to empirical antibiotic therapy recommended by ATS/IDSA guidelines. We designed a prospective interventional study to establish whether administration of a broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy consistent with the 2005 ATS/IDSA guidelines has an effect on the clinical outcome of hospitalized patients with HCAP. All patients with HCAP pro…