Assessment of Pneumonia Severity Index in Patients with Community-Acquired Pneumonia Admitted to Alzahra Hospital, Isfahan, Iran

The outcome of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) ranges from full recovery to severe complications and death. Several scoring systems have been developed to determine the severity and prognosis of CAP. Among these, pneumonia severity index (PSI) has become the standard reference because of the prognostic accuracy, effectiveness, and safety as a decision making aid. We conducted a descriptive, prospective study on all patients with CAP who were admitted to the infectious diseases ward of Alzahra Hospital (Isfahan, Iran) during 15 months. We assessed our patients based on PSI scoring system and classified them into 5 risk classes. The mean PSI score in this study was 91.4 ± 33.3 (range: 19-166). According to the calculated scores for each patient, 9 patients (19.1%) belonged to class I, 7 (14.9%) to class II, 7 (14.9%) to class III, 17 (36.2%) to class IV, and 7 (14.9%) to class V. About half of patients admitted to the infectious diseases ward were fine enough to be managed as outpatients. On the other hand, 20% of the patients in class V needed intensive care. It seems that physicians in emergency departments should pay more attention to PSI scoring system to determine the kind and site of care. This scoring system can also be used to assess the prognosis of death.