Pneumonia in the elderly: results of quality improvement program for a geriatric department in Lower Saxony 2006-2009

Is the time to diagnosis and to start antibiotic therapy a major factor contributing to the outcome in geriatric patients? In 2006, a program for documentation and improvement for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in patients with community-acquired pneumonia was introduced in German hospitals. The analyses were performed centrally by an independent board. Tertiary geriatric department with 70 beds for acute care and rehabilitation in a hospital, also including a department of neurology and neurological rehabilitation. In Lower Saxony (LS), 81,853 patients were treated between 2006-2009 in our geriatric department (GD). In LS, 55.3% of the population was male, while 45.2% of the patients in the GD were male (p=0.063). Throughout an age of 79 years, the distribution was equal; however in the age groups 80-89 years (LS vs GD: 32.3 vs 47.6%) and >90 years (LS vs GD: 10.2 vs 15.5%, p