Table 1

Characteristics of the study population

Characteristic
Total population
Patients with VAP
Patients without VAP

Number of patients
936
209
727
Age (years)
65 (50 to 75)
64 (54 to 74)
65 (48 to 75)
Male sex
552 (59.0)
125 (59.8)
427 (58.7)
Charlson score at admissiona



     0
335 (35.8)
69 (33.0)
266 (36.6)
     1 to 2
326 (34.8)
91 (43.5)
235 (32.3)
     3 to 5
184 (19.7)
34 (16.3)
150 (20.6)
     > 5
91 (9.7)
15 (7.2)
76 (10.5)
APACHE II score at admissionb



     < 26
367 (40.3)
74 (37.2)
293 (41.2)
     26 to 30
170 (18.7)
37 (18.6)
133 (18.7)
     > 30
373 (41.0)
88 (44.2)
285 (40.1)
Nursing acuity score at admission
226 (199 to 226)
226 (200 to 226)
226 (196 to 226)
Admission diagnosis



     Infectious diseasea
238 (25.4)
70 (33.5)
168 (23.1)
     Cardiovascular condition
315 (33.7)
76 (36.4)
239 (32.9)
     Pulmonary disease
139 (14.9)
27 (12.9)
112 (15.4)
     Othera
244 (26.1)
36 (17.2)
208 (28.6)
ICU stay (days)a
6 (3 to 11)
15 (10 to 23)
5 (3 to 8)
Duration of mechanical ventilation (days)a
3 (2 to 8)
11 (6 to 19)
3 (2 to 6)
ICU mortality
297 (31.7)
70 (33.5)
227 (31.2)
Hospital stay (days)a
18 (7 to 38)
29 (17 to 67)
14 (5 to 32)
Hospital mortality
381 (40.7)
94 (45.0)
287 (39.5)

Values are expressed as numbers (%) or median (interquartile range) for continuous variables. aSignificant difference between patients with and without VAP (P < 0.05). bTwenty-six missing values. APACHE, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation; ICU, intensive care unit; VAP, ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Hugonnet et al. Critical Care 2007 11:R80   doi:10.1186/cc5974