Article Text
Abstract
Background Statins have shown some beneficial impact on patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). This is mainly attributed to their pleiotropic effects, which include anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative and immunomodulatory regulation.
Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of statins on patients admitted with CAP by assessing C-reactive protein (CRP) levels on the first and third day of hospitalisation and the length of hospital stay (LOS).
Material and methods A cross-sectional study was conducted over 12 months in a tertiary care university-affiliated medical centre. Inclusion criteria included adult patients admitted for CAP who had at least two CRP levels ordered at various days during hospitalisation. The response to antibiotic therapy was evaluated by observing a decrease in CRP level and LOS between the two studied groups. The study was performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments and was approved by the institutional review board.
Results One-hundred and fifty-one patients were included in this study: 90 were statin users and 61 were non-users. Based on a two-tailed Pearson Chi2 test, statin users had significantly more comorbid conditions such as diabetes, dyslipidaemia, hypertension and renal insufficiency, and both groups had similar percentages of congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma and gastro-esophageal reflux. The severity of pneumonia (using CURB-65 criteria) was comparable between the two groups (using Pearson Chi2 test). Based on a Sig 2-tailed independent sample test, no statistical significance was shown when comparing CRP levels of statin users to non-users. On day one, the mean CRP in statin users and non-users were 17.48 and 16.45 respectively (p=0.65). On day three, the mean CRP decreased in both groups: 6.34 in statin users versus 6.51 in statin non-users (p=0.858). Similarly, the length of hospital stay was not positively impacted by the use of a statin: the mean was 8.4 days for those who were on a statin versus 8.8 days for those who were not on a statin (p=0.298).
Conclusion In this cross-sectional study, patients who were admitted with CAP and receiving statins did not show any difference in clinical outcomes measured by CRP levels and LOS, as compared to statin non-users.
References and/or acknowledgements Not applicable.
No conflict of interest.