Background: Pneumonia is a common disease with a high mortality rate, being the sixth leading cause of death among elderly people in the USA and the fifth among those in Brazil. Initial treatment of pneumonia is usually empirical since the ethiological agent is identified in only approximately 50% of cases. Therefore, several scientific societies have defined some guidelines for initial antimicrobial therapies. Objectives: This study evaluated adherence to the guidelines set forth by the Consenso Brasileiro sobre Pneumonias (Brazilian Consensus on Pneumonia) for treatment of community-acquired pneumonia in hospitalized elderly patients. Method: Fifty-four patients, aged 60 or over, hospitalized at Londrina University Hospital with community-acquired pneumonia between 2 August 1999 and 2 August 2000 were evaluated. Whether their treatment adhered or did not adhere to guidelines, the patients were compared in terms of 30-day mortality, average time for clinical stabilization, average length of hospital stay, cost of treatment and severity score. Results: The average age was 74.1, and 61.1% of the patients were treated in accordance with the Brazilian guidelines for treatment of community-acquired pneumonia. There were no differences in length of hospital stays, cost of treatment, time to clinical stability and severity score between the two groups (adherent and non-adherent). However, there was a difference in mortality. The rate of mortality was higher in patients with pneumonia severity index (PSI) scores of IV or V who were treated according to the guidelines than in those with the same score whose treatment was non-adherent (p = 0.04). In general, PSI score was related to mortality. The mortality rate among patients with scores of II and III was 9.5%, compared with 30.3% in patients with scores of IV and V. Conclusion: Adherence to the Brazilian guidelines for treatment of community-acquired pneumonia in elderly patients was satisfactory, and there was no difference in results between both groups, except for the higher mortality rate found for patients with higher PSI scores who were treated according to the guidelines. A positive correlation was found between PSI score and mortality.

Keywords: Pneumonia. Health Planning Guidelines. Community-Acquired Infections. Health Services for the Aged.