Nearly one-quarter of adults prescribed antibiotics as a first line treatment for community-acquired pneumonia were non-responsive to the medications, a new study revealed. Current guidelines for community-acquired pneumonia, published by the American Thoracic Societyand the Infectious Disease Society of America in 2007, offer insight on the disease. However, researchers noted that large-scale, real-world data were needed to gain greater knowledge of antibiotic choices and to better evaluate risk factors that may stem from treatment failure.

As part of the study, a team of researchers looked at databases with records of nearly 252,000 adult patients treated between 2011 and 2015. The patients received a single class of antibiotics — such as beta-lactam, macrolide, tetracycline, or fluoroquinolone — following a health care visit for community-acquired pneumonia. The scientists defined treatment failure based on the following factors: antibiotic refill, antibiotic switch, emergency department visit, and 30-day hospitalization following initial antibiotic prescription.