Risk factors of stroke-associated pneumonia in Chinese patients

OBJECTIVE: To explore the risk factors for stroke-associated pneumonia (SAP). METHODS: A retrospective research study was carried out to investigate the clinical data of 1435 patients admitted to the neurological intensive care unit at our university hospital between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2009. RESULTS: A multi-factorial analysis produced the following results: (1) SAP is 1.113 times more likely to occur for each 1-year increase in age; (2) diabetic patients are 1.612 times more likely to develop SAP than non-diabetic patients; (3) the incidence of SAP decreases by a factor of 0.890 with a one-point increase in the Glasgow coma scale score; (4) nasal feeding patients are 4.981 times more likely to develop SAP than non-nasal feeding patients; (5) patients who use H₂-receptor blocking agents are 2.837 times more likely to develop SAP than those who do not; (6) patients who preventively use antibiotics are 2.675 times more likely to develop SAP than those who do not; (7) patients whose hospitalization periods are >20 days are 0.500 times more likely to develop SAP than those who do not; (8) patients who suffer from tracheal intubation are 2.980 times more likely to develop SAP than those who do not; and (9) patients who suffer from tracheal incision are 2.190 times more likely to develop SAP than those who do not. CONCLUSIONS: SAP was more closely related with diabetes, age, consciousness, days of hospitalization, tracheal intubation, tracheal incision, nasal feeding treatment, and the application of H₂-receptor blocking agents and antimicrobials.