Table 1 Patient characteristics.

Characteristic		N = 77 (except for*)
Age (years), median (IQR)		68 (49–76)
Male, N (%)		42 (55.3)
*Smoking status, N (%)	Active	38 (50.7)
	Quit	27 (36)
	Never	10 (13.3)
Charlson Comorbidity Index, N (%)	0	23 (30.3)
	1	32 (42.1)
	2	8 (10.5)
	3	10 (13.2)
	4	2 (2.6)
	5	1 (1.3)
	6	0
Prior pulmonary disease	Any, N (%)	46 (59.7)
	COPD, N (%)	35 (45.5)
	Asthma, N (%)	10 (13.0)
	Other, N (%)	1 (1.3)
CURB65, N (%)	0	22 (28.6)
	1	13 (16.9)
	2	23 (29.9)
	3	18 (23.4)
	4	1 (1.3)
	5	0
Prior statin use, N (%)		23(29.9)
*CRP (mg/ml), median (IQR)		147 (78.8–230.2)
*PCT (ng/ml), median (IQR)		0.77 (0.18–4.15)
*BMI (Kg/m²), median (IQR)		25.9 (22.3–30.2)
*Influenza infection, N (%)		9 (16.7)
*Pneumococcal bacteraemia, N (%)		5 (6.8)
Prior antibiotics, N (%)		7 (9.1)
In hospital mortality, N (%)		2 (2.6)
Length of stay (days), median (IQR)		5 (4.0–8.0)
30 day re-admission, N (%)		8 (10.4)

The Charlson comorbidity index is a tool for predicting the risk of mortality during admission that is attributable to pre-existing comorbid conditions.
CURB-65 is a validated tool for predicting risk of 30 day mortality from CAP. The components are C = confusion (present scores 1, absent scores 0), U = urea (>7 mmol/L scores 1, ≤7 mmol/L scores 0) R = respiratory rate (≥30 scores 1, <30 scores 0) B = Blood-pressure (systolic <90 mmHg or diastolic ≤60 mmHg score 1) and age (≥65 years scores 1, <65 years scores 0).
CRP is serum C-reactive protein level, <5 mg/mL is normal.
PCT is serum procalcitonin level, serum levels >5 ng/mL are strongly associated with bacterial infection and this is the threshold for antibacterial treatment being ‘strongly recommend’⁴³.
BMI is body mass index.
Prior antibiotics records the number of patients who had been taking antibiotics in the community for greater than 24 hours prior to admission.
*Data was incomplete for variables marked with an asterisk: Smoking status N = 74, CRP N = 76, PCT N = 69, BMI N = 67, Influenza N = 54 and Pneumococcal bacteraemia N = 74.

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