Influence of Parkinsonism on outcomes of elderly pneumonia patients

Introduction: Pneumonia is one of the most frequent reasons for hospitalization in patients with Parkinson's disease. The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of Parkinsonism on the clinical courses of elderly patients hospitalized for pneumonia. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients aged >= 60 years who were hospitalized for pneumonia, using data from a national inpatient database in Japan. We performed one-to-four matching for age and sex between patients with and without Parkinsonism. Multivariable regression analyses were carried out for in-hospital mortality, length of stay, and discharge to home. Results: Patients with Parkinsonism had significantly lower in-hospital mortality than those without Parkinsonism (odds ratio, 0.81; 95% confidence interval, 0.74-0.89). Length of stay was 8.1% longer in patients with Parkinsonism. Patients with Parkinsonism were less likely to be discharged to home (odds ratio, 0.62; 95% confidence interval, 0.58-0.67). Conclusion: Parkinsonism was not an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality, but was related to prolonged length of stay and discharge other than to home in patients with pneumonia. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.