SynthesisBMC infectious diseases2019
Usefulness of sputum gram stain for etiologic diagnosis in community-acquired pneumonia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC infectious diseases, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Accuracy of Molecular Amplification Assays for Diagnosis of Staphylococcal Pneumonia: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2021Pooled it
- Article
- Rethinking Pneumococcal Urinary Antigen Testing in the Emergency Department: From Reflex Testing to Reasoned Use.Cureus · 2026Article
- Guideline-Concordant Therapy for Community-Acquired Pneumonia in the Hospitalized Population: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Open forum infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Acute management of pneumonia in adult patients.Singapore medical journal · 2023Article
- Gram Stain and Culture of Sputum Samples Detect Only Few Pathogens in Community-Acquired Lower Respiratory Tract Infections: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The Microbial Etiology of Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Adults: from Classical Bacteriology to Host Transcriptional Signatures.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2022Review
- Article
- Value of sputum Gram stain, sputum culture, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid Gram stain in predicting single bacterial pathogen among children with community-acquired pneumonia.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2022Article
- Expiratory Technique versus Tracheal Suction to Obtain Good-Quality Sputum from Patients with Suspected Lower Respiratory Tract Infection: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Opportunities for Improving Antimicrobial Stewardship: Findings From a Prospective, Multi-Center Study in Three Low- or Middle-Income Countries.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Can Prophylactic High Flow of Humidified and Warmed Filtered Air Improve Survival from Bacterial Pneumonia and SARS-CoV-2 in Elderly Individuals? The Role of Surfactant Protein A.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Multicenter Evaluation of the Unyvero Platform for Testing Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2021Article
- Approach to Identifying Causative Pathogens of Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Children Using Culture, Molecular, and Serology Tests.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2021Article
- Diagnostic Challenges in Sepsis.Current infectious disease reports · 2021Review
- Response to: Comment on "Antibiotic Resistance Profiles ofThe Canadian journal of infectious diseases & medical microbiology = Journal canadien des maladies infectieuses et de la microbiologie medicale · 2021Article
- Clinical characteristics of community-acquired pneumonia due to Moraxella catarrhalis in adults: a retrospective single-centre study.BMC infectious diseases · 2020Observational
- Community-acquired bacterial pneumonia in adults: An update.The Indian journal of medical research · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundImplementation of sputum Gram stain in the initial assessment of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) patients is still controversial. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the usefulness of sputum Gram stain for defining the etiologic diagnosis of CAP in adult patients.
methodsWe systematically searched the Medline, Embase, Science Direct, Scopus and LILACS databases for full-text articles. Relevant studies were reviewed by at least three investigators who extracted the data, pooled them using a random effects model, and carried out quality assessment. For each bacterium (Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Gram-negative bacilli), pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios were reported.
resultsAfter a review of 3539 abstracts, 20 articles were included in the present meta-analysis. The studies included yielded 5619 patients with CAP. Pooled sensitivity and pooled specificity of sputum Gram stain were 0.59 (95% CI, 0.56-0.62) and 0.87 (95% CI, 0.86-0.89) respectively for S. pneumoniae, 0.78 (95% CI, 0.72-0.84) and 0.96 (95% CI, 0.94-0.97) for H. influenzae, 0.72 (95% CI, 0.53-0.87) and 0.97 (95% CI, 0.95-0.99) for S. aureus, and 0.64 (95% CI, 0.49-0.77) and 0.99 (95% CI, 0.97-0.99) for Gram-negative bacilli.
conclusionSputum Gram stain test is sensitive and highly specific for identifying the main causative pathogens in adult patients with CAP.
trial registrationThis study has been registered at PROSPERO International prospective register of systematic reviews under registration no. CRD42015015337 .
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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.