Journal of hospital medicine : an official publication of the Society of Hospital Medicine
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Multicenter Study
Characteristics associated with clinician diagnosis of aspiration pneumonia: a descriptive study of afflicted patients and their outcomes.
Aspiration pneumonia is a common disease, although less well characterized than other pneumonia syndromes. ⋯ Among pneumonia patients, confusion, nursing home residence, and cerebrovascular disease are associated with a clinician diagnosis of aspiration. Aspiration pneumonia is associated with greater mortality among patients with community-acquired pneumonia, which is not explained by older age, measured indices of severity, or comorbidities.