Table 1 Demographic, clinical and laboratory characteristics of the study population
CAP (n = 29) | Infection-associated COPD exacerbation (n = 13) | Controls (n = 33) | p value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
All groupsa | CAP vs. COPDb | ||||
Demographics | |||||
Sex | |||||
Female (%) | 38 | 46 | 36 | 0.30 | 0.25 |
Male (%) | 62 | 54 | 64 | ||
Median age (range) | 60 (24–90) | 62 (55–81) | 59 (24–90) | 0.78 | 0.31 |
Medical history (past or current) | |||||
Diabetes (%) | 38 | 17 | 24 | 2.0 × 10−03 | 9.0 × 10−04 |
Cardiovascular disease (%) | 28 | 50 | 24 | 1.6 × 10−04 | 1.4 × 10−03 |
Cancer (%) | 10 | 30 | 6 | < 1.0 × 10−05 | 4.1 × 10−04 |
Treatment (at time of first blood sample) | |||||
Antimicrobial (%) | 100 | 100 | 0 | NA | NA |
Corticosteroid (%) | 22 | 62 | 3.3 | < 1.0 × 10−05 | < 1.0 × 10−05 |
Disease severity | |||||
PSI risk class (%) | |||||
I (low) | 21 | NA | NA | NA | NA |
II (low) | 20 | NA | NA | NA | NA |
III (low) | 14 | NA | NA | NA | NA |
IV (moderate) | 24 | NA | NA | NA | NA |
V (high) | 21 | NA | NA | NA | NA |
GOLD grades (%) | |||||
I (mild) | NA | 0 | NA | NA | NA |
II (moderate) | NA | 25 | NA | NA | NA |
III (severe) | NA | 25 | NA | NA | NA |
IV (very severe) | NA | 50 | NA | NA | NA |
Laboratory results | |||||
CRP (mg/l, ref. < 5 mg/l) | 102 (3.1–428) | 14 (3.1–91) | 3.1 (3.1–7.1) | 2.5 × 10−12 | 2.5 × 10−05 |
PCT (ng/l, ref. < 0.5 ng/l) | 0.23 (0.02–38) | 0.09 (0.02–1.0) | 0.02 (0.02–0.08) | 5.0 × 10−09 | 7.1 × 10−03 |
Pathogen detected (%) | 41 | 54 | NA | NA | NA |