A population-based study on the impact of hospitalization for pneumonia in different age groups

Background Pneumonia is an important cause of illness and death, particularly in elderly adults. This retrospective study was conducted to estimate the trend of hospitalization for pneumonia in the Veneto from the records of all hospitals in the region (serving a population of 4.81 million) during the years 2004 through 2012. Methods The cases of pneumonia identified in the hospital discharge records were all cases in which the first-listed diagnosis was pneumonia, or meningitis, septicemia or empyema associated with pneumonia. The annual total and age-specific hospitalization rates and trends were calculated and correlated with vaccine coverage. Total related costs were also calculated. Results There were 110,927 hospitalizations for pneumonia, meaning an annual rate of 256.3/100,000 population, with peaks in children and elderly people. The overall pneumonia-related hospitalization rate did not change significantly during the study period (AAPC: 1.3% [95% CI: −0.5, 3.1]). The rate dropped significantly among the 0- to 4-year-olds, however, from 617.3/100,000 in 2004 to 451.8/100,000 in 2012 (AAPC: −2.5% [95% CI: −4.5; −0.5]), while it increased slightly in adults aged 80+ (AAPC: 1.2% [95% CI: −0.9; 3.4]). The overall pneumonia-related mortality rate was 10.7%. The estimated cost per hospitalized patient was €3,090. Conclusion This study shows that hospitalization for pneumonia has a considerable impact on the health services, especially for children and the elderly. No decline in hospitalization rates was seen for the very elderly after the introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccination for children. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2334-14-485) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.