The impact of admission blood glucose level on patients with community-acquired pneumonia

Background Pneumonia is one of the most common diseases with a high hospitalization rate. Many studies have suggested that there is a correlation between pre-existing diabetes and the alterations in serum glucose levels in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and high death rate. Aim To study the impact of admission blood glucose level on patients' outcomes with CAP. Patients and methods Sixty (30 nondiabetic and 30 diabetic patients) consecutive hospitalized adult patients with CAP were recruited over a 1-year period. Data on patients' outcomes including duration of hospital stay, duration of antibiotic treatment, increase in oxygen requirements, increase in antibiotics coverage, ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, and in-hospital mortality were collected. Results Admission blood glucose level was elevated in diabetic patients (the mean plasma glucose level was 258.86 +/- 116.15 mg/dl in diabetics and 151.13 +/- 51.23 mg/dl in nondiabetics). There were statistically significant increases in the duration of hospital stay (7.633 +/- 3.567 nondiabetic vs. 11.267 +/- 4.291 diabetic patients in days), duration of antibiotic treatment (7.633 +/- 3.567 nondiabetic vs. 11.267 +/- 4.291 diabetic patients in days), increase in O-2 requirements (33.33 vs.70%), increase in antibiotics coverage (16.67 vs. 63.33%), and ICU admission (30 vs. 63.33%) in the diabetic group on comparing nondiabetic versus diabetic patients with CAP. Also, the previously mentioned outcomes increased significantly with increasing blood glucose levels among the entire study population. Conclusion On admission, CAP patients with increased blood glucose level, either diabetic or nondiabetic, are expected to have poor outcomes.