Application of a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus risk score for community-onset pneumonia patients and outcomes with initial treatment

Background Community-onset (CO) methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) pneumonia is an evolving problem, and there is a great need for a reliable method to assess MRSA risk at hospital admission. A new MRSA prediction score classifies CO-pneumonia patients into low, medium, and high-risk groups based on objective criteria available at baseline. Our objective was to assess the effect of initial MRSA therapy on mortality in these three risk groups. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Patients were included if they were hospitalized with pneumonia and received antibiotics within the first 48 h of admission. They were stratified into MRSA therapy and no MRSA therapy treatment arms based on antibiotics received in the first 48 h. Multivariable logistic regression was used to adjust for potential confounders. Results A total of 80,330 patients met inclusion criteria, of which 36 % received MRSA therapy and 64 % did not receive MRSA therapy. The majority of patients were classified as either low (51 %) or medium (47 %) risk, with only 2 % classified as high-risk. Multivariable logistic regression analysis demonstrated that initial MRSA therapy was associated with a lower 30-day mortality in the high-risk group (adjusted odds ratio 0.57; 95 % confidence interval 0.42–0.77). Initial MRSA therapy was not beneficial in the low or medium-risk groups. Conclusions This study demonstrated improved survival with initial MRSA therapy in high-risk CO-pneumonia patients. The MRSA risk score might help spare MRSA therapy for only those patients who are likely to benefit. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12879-015-1119-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.