Abstract
Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs that can be fatal. In elderly the average length of stay for patients over 65 is reported as 5.6 days. Multiple efforts have been made to decrease the length of stay of hospitalized patients to reduce the economic burden as well as improve the overall quality of life for patients. Through a meta-analysis, an analysis of whether OMT can improve outcomes in elderly patients by shortening length of hospital stay.
A systematic review was conducted to identify studies which examined the effect of OMT on length of hospital stay in patients with pneumonia, aged 50 years and older, as compared to only receiving conventional care. A meta-analysis, an analysis of the results from the literature search was conducted.
OMT had a statistically significant decrease in hospital length of stay compared to those undergoing conventional treatment alone (P = 0.000995). A statistically significant overall mean difference effect size was −0.301 (Z score = 3.29, p = 0.001). Cochran’s Q test for heterogeneity supported homogeneity between the studies (p=0.428) as did the I2 of 0%.
Meta-analysis favored the use of OMT in elderly patients hospitalized with pneumonia to significantly decreased the hospital length of stay compared to those undergoing standardized treatment. Based on these results, OMT should be utilized more in the hospital setting to reduce the length of stay in the hospital and reduced economic burden of days admitted in the hospital.