Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35534798›Full record

ArticleBMC infectious diseases2022

Validating a clinical prediction score for Legionella-related community acquired pneumonia.

Rosalie R A L Beekman, Ruud R Duijkers, Dominic D Snijders, Menno M van der Eerden, Martijn M Kross, Wim W G Boersma

Open access · goldAbstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
2.0field-weighted citation impact, top 13% 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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Infection and drug resistance · 2026
    Review
  2. Community-AcquiredPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Journal of clinical medicine · 2022
    Review
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 4 institutions in 1 country.

Rosalie R A L BeekmanDepartment of Pulmonology, Noordwest Ziekenhuisgroep, Alkmaar, Netherlands.
Ruud R DuijkersDepartment of Pulmonology, Noordwest Ziekenhuisgroep, Alkmaar, Netherlands. ruud.duijkers@mcl.nl.
Dominic D SnijdersDepartment of Pulmonology, Spaarne Ziekenhuis, Hoofddorp, Netherlands.
Menno M van der EerdenDepartment of Pulmonology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Martijn M KrossDepartment of Pulmonology, Slotervaartziekenhuis, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Wim W G BoersmaDepartment of Pulmonology, Noordwest Ziekenhuisgroep, Alkmaar, Netherlands.
Noordwest Ziekenhuisgroep · NLErasmus MC · NLSlotervaartziekenhuis · NLSpaarne Ziekenhuis · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLegionella-related community acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a disease with an increasing incidence and a high mortality rate, especially if empirical antibiotic therapy is inadequate. Antibiotic treatment highly relies on clinical symptoms, although proven non-specific, because currently available diagnostic techniques provide insufficient accuracy for detecting Legionella CAP on admission. This study validates a diagnostic scoring system for detection of Legionella-related CAP, based on six items on admission (Legionella prediction score).

methodsWe included patients with Legionella-related CAP admitted to five large Dutch hospitals between 2006 and 2016. Controls were non-Legionella-related CAP patients. The following six conditions were rewarded one point if present: fever > 39.4 °C; dry cough; hyponatremia (sodium) < 133 mmol/L; lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) > 225 mmol/L; C-reactive protein (CRP) > 187 mg/L and platelet count < 171 × 10

resultsWe included 131 cases and 160 controls. A score of 0 occurred in non-Legionella-related CAP patients only, a score of 5 and 6 in Legionella-related CAP patients only. A cut-off ≥ 4 resulted in a sensitivity of 58.8% and a specificity of 93.1%. The AUC was 0.89 (95% CI 0.86-0.93). The strongest predictors were elevated LDH, elevated CRP and hyponatremia.

conclusionsThis multi-centre study validates the Legionella prediction score, an easily applicable diagnostic scoring system, in a large group of patients and finds high diagnostic accuracy. The score shows promise for future prospective validation and could contribute to targeted antibiotic treatment of suspected Legionella CAP.

Indexed as

Community-Acquired InfectionsHyponatremiaLegionellaLegionella pneumophilaLegionnaires' DiseasePneumoniaAnti-Bacterial AgentsHumansL-Lactate DehydrogenaseAnti-Bacterial AgentsL-Lactate DehydrogenaseClinical prediction ruleCommunity-acquired pneumoniaLegionellaRapid diagnosis

Identifiers

PMID35534798
PMCPMC9081661
OpenAlexW4229372085

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Registered trials

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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.