Disparities of Care for African-Americans and Caucasians with Community-Acquired Pneumonia: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Table 4 Antibiotic prescribing, intensive care measures, Hospital LOS, and 30-day mortality for African-American and Caucasian VHA patients with CAP admitted to the intensive care units (ICU patients) (n = 5,172)*

	Total	African-Americans	Caucasians	P-value
Guideline-concordant antibiotics^†	77%	76%	78%	0.3383
Intensive care measures, %
Intensive care unit admission	13%	12%	13%	0.0023
Vasopressors	26%	32%	26%	0.0005
Mechanical ventilation	42%	48%	41%	0.0005
LOS, median (interquartile range)^‡	12 (7-23)	13 (7-31)	11 (7-22)	<0.0001
30-day mortality, %	31%	29%	31%	0.2806

LOS = length of stay.
* These results reflect the bivariate statistical tests (chi-square and Wilcoxon Rank Sum tests).
^† Guideline-concordant antibiotics were those consistent with 2007 American Thoracic Society/Infectious Diseases Society of America community-acquired pneumonia guidelines[12]. See study methods for more information.
^‡ VHA patients who died within 30 days of hospital discharge were excluded from all LOS analyses.

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