Oral meal intake as a prognostic predictor of community-acquired pneumonia: A retrospective cohort study

The association between oral intake volume and prognosis has not been studied in hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).

We retrospectively examined 503 hospitalized CAP patients to evaluate whether early-phase meal intake (EMI) (within the first 24 h after hospitalization) and maximum meal intake (MMI) (on the day during hospitalization) are useful prognostic predictors.

Of the 503 patients, 40 (8.0%) died within 30 days. Area under the curve (AUC) for prognosis was comparable between EMI, A-DROP, and serum albumin [EMI: 0.80, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.75-0.84; A-DROP: 0.77, 95% CI 0.71-0.83; Serum albumin: 0.72, 95% CI 0.64-0.79]. Mortality rate was <1% in patients with EMI ≥ 50%. Univariate analysis showed that patients with EMI < 50% showed poor prognosis [odds ratio 53.4, 95% CI 7.2-392.2]. Multivariate analysis showed that EMI was an independent prognostic predictor [odds ratio 23.6, 95% CI 3.11-179.7]. AUC of MMI for prognosis was 0.94 (95% CI 0.91-0.96); mortality rate was <1% for patients who ingested ≥50% of meals on any day during hospitalization. We defined ingesting ≥50% of meals on any day during hospitalization as oral intake stability. Multivariate analyses revealed an association between oral intake stability and prognosis. Odds ratio of oral intake stability for prognosis was higher than that of conventional evaluations (vital sign and CRP level stability). Fewer days were required to reach oral intake stability than to reach vital sign and CRP level stability.

Oral intake is a simple, non-invasive, cost-free, and powerful prognostic predictor for patients with CAP.