Evidence map›Paper›PMID 18729535›Full record

SynthesisDrugs2008

Short- versus long-course antibacterial therapy for community-acquired pneumonia : a meta-analysis.

George Dimopoulos, Dimitrios K Matthaiou, Drosos E Karageorgopoulos, Alexandros P Grammatikos, Zoe Athanassa, Matthew E Falagas

Registry-linked trialOpen access · bronzeAbstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Drugs, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04089787 (Shortened Antibiotic Treatment in Community-Acquired Pneumonia), which is not on this map. Cited by 51 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
51citing papers in PubMed, 10 pooled it
6.2field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT04089787 phase4completednot on this mapstarted 2019, after this paper: background citation

Shortened Antibiotic Treatment in Community-Acquired Pneumonia: A Nationwide Danish Randomized Controlled Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorThomas BenfieldRan2019 to 2025Enrolled395ConditionsCommunity-acquired PneumoniaArmsIntervention, Control
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

51 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 159 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Guideline
  3. Guideline
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Pooled it
  8. Pooled it
  9. Implementing an Antibiotic Stewardship Program: Guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2016
    Guideline
  10. Pooled it
  11. Trial
  12. Trial
  13. Association between in-hospital antibiotic use and long-term outcomes in critically ill patients.Antimicrobial stewardship & healthcare epidemiology : ASHE · 2025
    Article
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

George DimopoulosAlfa Institute of Biomedical Sciences (AIBS), Athens, GreeceDepartment of Critical Care, Attikon University Hospital, University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Dimitrios K Matthaiou
Drosos E Karageorgopoulos
Alexandros P Grammatikos
Zoe Athanassa
Matthew E Falagas
Alfa Institute of Biomedical Sciences · GRNational and Kapodistrian University of Athens · GRTufts University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe evidence for traditionally recommended 7- to 14-day duration of antibacterial therapy for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is not well established.

objectivesWe endeavoured to assess the effectiveness and safety of shorter than traditionally recommended antibacterial therapy for CAP.

methodsWe performed a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing short- (< or = 7 days) versus long- (> or = 2 days difference) course therapy for CAP with the same antibacterial regimens, in the same daily dosages.

resultsFive RCTs involving adults (including outpatients and inpatients who did not require intensive care) and two RCTs involving children (aged 2-59 months, residing in developing countries) were included. All RCTs were double-blind and assessed patients with CAP of mild to moderate severity. No differences were found between short- (adults 3-7 days; children 3 days) and long- (adults 7-10 days; children 5 days) course regimens (adults - amoxicillin, cefuroxime, ceftriaxone, telithromycin and gemifloxacin; children - amoxicillin) regarding clinical success at end-of-therapy (six RCTs; 5107 patients [1095 adults, 4012 children]; fixed-effect model [FEM]; odds ratio [OR] = 0.89; 95% CI 0.74, 1.07), clinical success at late follow-up, microbiological success, relapses, mortality (seven RCTs; 5438 patients; FEM; OR = 0.57; 95% CI 0.23, 1.43), adverse events (five RCTs; 3214 patients; FEM; OR = 0. 90; 95% CI 0.72, 1.13) or withdrawals as a result of adverse events. No differences were found in subset analyses of adults or children, and of patients treated with no more than 5-day short-course regimens versus at least 7-day long-course regimens.

conclusionNo difference was found in the effectiveness and safety of short- versus long-course antimicrobial treatment of adult and paediatric patients with CAP of mild to moderate severity.

Indexed as

Administration, OralAdultAge FactorsAnti-Bacterial AgentsChild, PreschoolCommunity-Acquired InfectionsDrug Administration ScheduleFollow-Up StudiesHumansInfantPneumoniaRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicTime FactorsTreatment OutcomeAnti-Bacterial Agents

Identifiers

PMID18729535
OpenAlexW2026082339

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.