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CURB-65
Severity assessment for community-acquired pneumonia
Indication
- Severity assessment for community-acquired pneumonia
Criteria
- id: confusion; label: Confusion (new disorientation); type: yesno; points: 1
- id: bun; label: BUN > 19 mg/dL (>7 mmol/L); type: yesno; points: 1
- id: rr; label: Respiratory rate ≥ 30; type: yesno; points: 1
- id: bp; label: SBP < 90 or DBP ≤ 60; type: yesno; points: 1
- id: age65; label: Age ≥ 65; type: yesno; points: 1
Interpretation
- function(score) { if (score <= 1) return { risk: score + '/5', tier: 'Low Risk', action: 'Outpatient treatment. Mortality <3%.', color: 'green' }; if (score === 2) return { risk: score + '/5', tier: 'Moderate Risk', action: 'Consider short inpatient or supervised outpatient. Mortality 9%.', color: 'yellow' }; return { risk: score + '/5', tier: 'High Risk', action: 'Inpatient +/- ICU. Score 3: mortality 17%. Score 4-5: mortality 42-57%.', color: 'red' }; }
Clinical pearls
- CURB-65 0-1: consider outpatient treatment
- CURB-65 2: short inpatient or closely supervised outpatient
- CURB-65 ≥3: hospitalize; consider ICU if 4-5
- Does NOT account for comorbidities, hypoxia, or multilobar disease
Source and review
- Lim et al., Thorax 2003; BTS Guidelines. Last reviewed: 2024-10-15