Pneumonia hospitalizations in the US Navy and marine corps: Rates and risk factors for 6,522 admissions, 1981-1991

Gregory C. Gray, Benjamin S. Mitchell, John E. Tueller, Eleanor R. Cross, Dennis E. Amundson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The authors identified hospitalizations for pneumonia (n = 6,522) in activeduty Navy and Marine Corps personnel during 1981-1991 from computerized inpatient records. The crude mean annual rate of pneumonia hospitalization was 77.6 per 100,000 activeduty personnel; 65% of pneumonia hospitalizations had no etiologic agent identified. The most commonly reported agents to cause pneumonia hospitalization were Streptmcus pneumoniae (12.3%), Mycoplasma pneumoniae (10.8%), other streptococcal species (2.1%), and Haemophilus influenzae (1.9%). The median age at hospitalization was 22 years. The median duration of hospital stay was 4 days and the case fatality rate was 0.4%. The authors used a 2% sample of the entire population and by means of stepwise unconditional muttivariate logistic regression modeling for pneumonia found that, independent of age, the most junior Navy and Marine Corps personnel were at highest risk. Whites were at higher risk than blacks, Hispanics, or Filipinos. These results indicate that among this generally heatthy US young adult military population, pneumonia hospitalization is common, often brief, and frequently without specifically identified pathogens.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)793-802
Number of pages10
JournalAmerican journal of epidemiology
Volume139
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 15 1994
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Military medicine
  • Mycoplasma pneumoniae
  • Pneumonia
  • Streptococcus pneumoniae

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Epidemiology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Pneumonia hospitalizations in the US Navy and marine corps: Rates and risk factors for 6,522 admissions, 1981-1991'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this