Incidence of Community-Acquired Pneumonia in the Population of Four Municipalities in Eastern Finland

Abstract

Between September 1, 1981, and August 31, 1982, all patients with suspected or confirmed pneumonia among the 46,979 inhabitants of four municipalities in the province of Kuopio, Finland, were reported to a pneumonia register by their attending physicians. In addition, two study pathologists reported all cases of pneumonia found at autopsy, and two permanent registers were checked for retrospective identification of patients. Chest radiographs were obtained from 97% of all patients. The final diagnosis was based on radiologic or autopsy criteria. A total 546 patients (323 males and 223 females) had community-acquired pneumonia; of these, 37% were less than 15 years of age, and 31% were 60 years of age or older. Nineteen percent of the patients had defined chronic conditions, and 42% were admitted to hospital. The case fatality rate was 4%. The overall incidence of community-acquired pneumonia per 1,000 inhabitants per year was 11.6 (13.9 in males, 9.4 in females). The age-specific incidence per 1,000 inhabitants per year was as follows: age < 5 years, 36.0; age 5-14 years, 16.2; age 15-59 years, 6.0; age 60-74 years, 15.4; and age > or = 75 years, 34.2.

Epidemiology of community-acquired pneumonia in adults: a population-based study

“…This period of life is characterized by the occurrence of chronic and debilitating conditions, which tend to be more frequent in males and have been found to be a major risk factor for community-acquired pneumonia [7]. Similar trends in the incidence rates stratified by age and sex were found in the Finnish population-based study [3]. The incidence rate of pneumonia also varied annually and in the authors' Mediterranean climate, winter (2.21) and autumn (1.59) had the highest rates.…”

“…This figure, however, was obtained from the US National Health Survey's population sample interview, all ages were included, and no roentgenographic confirmation of pneumonia was required. In European population-based studies, a lower incidence of community-acquired pneumonia has been reported, such as 5 per 1,000 persons between 15±79 yrs of age in England [12], and 9 per 1,000 inhabitants >14 yrs of age in Finland [3]. In Spain, SANTOS DE UNAMUNO et al [13] reported an incidence rate of 1.8 per 1,000 inhabitants >14 yrs of age.…”

“…The incidence of community-acquired pneumonia is higher in elderly than in young adults [3,16]. This period of life is characterized by the occurrence of chronic and debilitating conditions, which tend to be more frequent in males and have been found to be a major risk factor for community-acquired pneumonia [7].…”

“…In the USA,~15% of pneumonia cases required hospitalization [26,27]. Hospitalization rates in European countries range between 22% in a study carried out in England [12] and 48% in Finland [3]. In a previous study, 50% of patients with community-acquired pneumonia were admitted to hospital [4].…”

“…In a previous study, 50% of patients with community-acquired pneumonia were admitted to hospital [4]. It has been shown that using similar diagnostic criteria, the number of patients admitted to hospital varies largely by geographic area [2,3]. In the present study, the high rate of hospital admission (61.4%) may be explained by the characteristics of the "Maresme" region where the study was conducted, particularly in relation to easy accessibility to the reference hospital so that many patients sought medical care directly from the emergency service of the hospital rather than being visited by a primary care physician.…”