AIMS
This project aims to improve care for people admitted to hospital with pneumonia that started outside hospital. Researchers will develop a digital tool to help healthcare professionals choose the most suitable antibiotics for each person.
BACKGROUND
Pneumonia is a chest infection. When it starts outside hospital, it is called community-acquired pneumonia. It is a common reason for people to need emergency hospital care in the UK. National guidelines help doctors choose antibiotic treatment, but studies suggest that fewer than half of patients receive treatment that fully follows these guidelines.
Choosing the right antibiotic is not always straightforward. Healthcare professionals need to consider a person’s age, other health conditions, allergies, blood test results and previous infections. They also need to consider whether the bacteria causing the infection may be resistant to some antibiotics, meaning those antibiotics may not work.
Using antibiotics when they are not needed, or choosing an unsuitable antibiotic, may cause side effects, lead to longer hospital stays and contribute to antibiotic resistance. The project aims to help healthcare professionals make safe treatment choices that take each person’s needs into account.
RESEARCH
Researchers will study hospital records of people admitted with pneumonia that started outside hospital. They will look at the treatments people received, how they recovered and what might make them more likely to become seriously ill. The information will include details such as age, medical history, blood test results, tests to identify the germs causing infection, medicines, allergies and chest X-ray reports.
The team will develop and test computer models using information already collected during routine care. These models will aim to estimate how serious a person’s pneumonia may be, what is likely to be causing it and which antibiotics are likely to work. The findings will help the team develop digital tools that could be built into electronic patient records to support healthcare professionals when choosing treatment.
PATIENT AND PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT
Patients and members of the public have helped shape this research from the start. The team discussed the project with the Nottingham Breathe Easy Group, a support group for people with lung conditions. Members shared their experiences of antibiotic treatment in hospital. They stressed that treatment choices should take account of each person’s circumstances and medical history.
APPROVAL
All members of the PIONEER Data Trust Committee supported this project.
Dr Christopher Hatton, a Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham, leads the project. He is working with colleagues from the University of Birmingham, the Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre and the Midlands National Institute for Health and Care Research Patient Safety Research Collaborative.
