Statistical methods
REGRESSION, SECONDARY
Based on literature and local data, we assumed that adherence to antimicrobial guidelines was 50% for the management of CAP patients [Descriptive statistics were conducted to assess whether the exchangeability assumption was met for the baseline variables. To assess whether there was a difference between the 2 groups Fisher’s exact test or chi-square test were performed for categorical variables, and To accommodate the variation between study sites, we used logistic regression with Huber–White clustered standard errors to investigate the effect of POC-PCR on antibiotic prescription at 4 h, for the secondary outcomes at 48 h, and 5 days. Results were reported with odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). To compare the 2 groups, we used negative binomial regression for LOS. Logistic regression analyses were performed for 30 days mortality, in-hospital mortality, ICU admission, and readmission within 30 days and unadjusted and adjusted for triage. Multiple imputation using a logistic regression was performed to handle missing outcome data. We realised 50 imputations of target treatment at 4 h based on CURB-65 and age as they may be good predictors for antibiotic treatment prescriptions. We considered a two-sided 