Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41981820›Full record

ArticleClinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America2026

Impact of Procalcitonin Testing on Antibiotic Use in Patients Hospitalized With Community-Acquired Pneumonia: A Multi-Hospital Cohort Study.

Abhishek Deshpande, Rebecca Schulte, Ramara E Walker, Andrea M Pallotta, Ming Wang, Sameer S Kadri, Sarah Haessler, Michael Klompas, Peter K Lindenauer, Michael B Rothberg

Abstract readMulticenter Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
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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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

10 authors.

Abhishek DeshpandeCenter for Value-Based Care Research, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-5522-2995
Rebecca SchulteCenter for Value-Based Care Research, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Ramara E WalkerDepartment of Pharmacy, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8211-2553
Andrea M PallottaDepartment of Pharmacy, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Ming WangDepartment of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9977-7041
Sameer S KadriDepartment of Critical Care Medicine, National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-4420-9004
Sarah HaesslerDivision of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School-Baystate, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7697-8641
Michael KlompasDepartment of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8641-4498
Peter K LindenauerDepartment of Healthcare Delivery and Population Sciences, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School-Baystate, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA.
Michael B RothbergCenter for Value-Based Care Research, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

Funding

AHRQ HHS R01 HS028633NIH HHSUS Department of Health and Human Services
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundProcalcitonin (PCT) testing may guide antibiotic decisions in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), but real-world evidence of its impact on antibiotic prescribing in the era of shorter antibiotic courses remains limited.

methodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study of adults with CAP admitted to the wards of 12 hospitals between November 2022 and January 2025. Primary analyses included: (1) PCT testing rates at admission, (2) the association between PCT testing and duration of antibiotic therapy, and (3) among patients initiated on extended-spectrum antibiotics (ESAs), the relationship between PCT results and early de-escalation. We compared outcomes between PCT-tested and untested patients and between those with low (<0.1 μg/L) vs high (≥0.1 μg/L) PCT values using propensity score overlap weighting to control for potential confounders.

resultsAmong 17 290 non-intensive care unit (ICU) admissions for CAP, PCT testing was performed for 10 658 patients (59.5%) within 24 hours of admission. After adjustments, PCT testing was associated with shorter antibiotic duration (adjusted mean difference, -0.32 days; 95% confidence interval [CI], -.52 to -.12) but was not significantly associated with ESA de-escalation compared with no PCT testing (hazard ratio, 1.05; 95% CI, .99-1.12). Patients with low PCT values received shorter antibiotic courses compared with those with high values (adjusted mean difference, -0.56 days; 95% CI, -.85 to -.49).

conclusionsIn non-ICU patients with CAP, PCT testing was associated with modest differences in antibiotic duration, primarily when values were low.

Indexed as

Anti-Bacterial AgentsCommunity-Acquired PneumoniaProcalcitoninAgedAged, 80 and overAntimicrobial StewardshipCommunity-Acquired InfectionsFemaleHospitalizationHumansMaleMiddle AgedRetrospective StudiesAnti-Bacterial AgentsProcalcitoninantibiotic stewardshipcommunity-acquired pneumoniaprocalcitoninviral pneumonia

Identifiers

PMID41981820
PMCPMC13537123

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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.