PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Jun Shan
AU  - Hong-Lin Chen
AU  - Jian-Hua Zhu
TI  - Diagnostic Accuracy of Clinical Pulmonary Infection Score for Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia: A Meta-analysis
AID  - 10.4187/respcare.01097
DP  - 2011 Aug 01
TA  - Respiratory Care
PG  - 1087--1094
VI  - 56
IP  - 8
4099  - http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/56/8/1087.short
4100  - http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/56/8/1087.full
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the diagnostic accuracy of the clinical pulmonary infection score in the diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia in mechanically ventilated patients. METHODS: We searched PubMed and the Cochrane database, and included only studies that compared clinical pulmonary infection score with quantitative microbiological analysis of samples for diagnosing ventilator-associated pneumonia. We constructed 2-by-2 tables of diagnostic accuracy from each article, and meta-analyzed the results by pooling estimates of sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratio for positive index test, likelihood ratio for negative index test, diagnostic odds ratio, and 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria. The pooled estimates for sensitivity and specificity for clinical pulmonary infection score were 65% (95% CI 61–69%) and 64% (95% CI 60–67%), respectively. The combined diagnostic odds ratio was 4.85 (95% CI 2.42–9.71) and the area under the curve was 0.748 (95% CI 0.65–0.85). CONCLUSIONS: The diagnostic performance of the clinical pulmonary infection score for ventilator-associated pneumonia is moderate. However, the clinical pulmonary infection score is simple and easy to perform, and may still be useful in diagnosing ventilator-associated pneumonia.