Analysis of pneumonia severity based on CURB-65 scoring system and its implications for empirical antibiotics: A Cross Sectional Study at Regional Hospital Denpasar

Abstract

The largest case of pneumonia found in the community is community-acquired pneumonia, with the main problem of high severity in elderly patients. The severity of pneumonia can be measured, one of which is through the CURB-65 method, which is widely used in various health services to determine the antibiotics used. This study was aimed to see the relationship between the severity of pneumonia and empirical antibiotic therapy at the Denpasar City Hospital. The research method used is descriptive analytic with a cross-sectional approach with a study population including all patients diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia and hospitalized at the Regional Hospital Denpasar in 2022-2023 who meet the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Bivariate analysis was used to see the relationship between the severity of pneumonia and empirical antibiotic therapy. The number of samples that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria was 152 samples consisting of 64 patients receiving antibiotic monotherapy and 88 patients receiving antibiotic polytherapy. The severity of pneumonia through the CURB-65 score is dominated by mild severity (71.7%). Through the Fisher exact test, a p-value < 0.05 was obtained, which means that there is a relationship between the severity of pneumonia and empirical antibiotic therapy at the Regional Hospital Denpasar. The results of this study are in line with the guidelines for managing community acquired pneumonia in Indonesia.