The impact of antibiotic use on children's recovery from community-acquired pneumonia.

Abstract

This retrospective study aims to explore the impact of rational antibiotic use on community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) children's recuperation. A retrospective analysis was performed on clinical data of 1078 children with CAP treated in Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University from May 2021 to October 2024. Children were divided into good and poor recovery outcome groups. Related datas were compared between groups. Parameters with statistical significance (P < 0.05) underwent logistic regression. A predictive model for poor outcomes was developed and evaluated using ROC curve, AUC and DCA for combined predictive efficacy. The poor-recovery group had a higher proportion of children with parental smoking history, severe pneumonia, mixed infections, longer antibiotic use, CRP and PCT levels (all P < 0.05), but a lower rate of combined drug treatment (P < 0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression identified severe pneumonia (OR=1.554, 95% CI: 1.136-2.124), longer antibiotic courses (OR=1.254, 95% CI: 1.152-1.364) and elevated CRP/PCT levels as independent risk factors. The predictive model showed an AUC of 0.847 (95% CI: 0.802-0.893), with a 23.8% recovery difference between groups. Combined antibiotic use, antibiotic duration and inflammation level were independent factors significantly affecting CAP children's recovery, highlighting the critical role of rational medication in CAP outcomes.