Endpoints
death
ADVERSE EVENTS, RECRUITMENT, HYPERTENSION, COMMUNITY-ACQUIRED PNEUMONIA
The feasibility endpoints were:Recruitment. Defined as the percentage of patients admitted to hospital with CURB-65 ≥ 2 CAP who were enrolled in the study.Treatment delivery. Measured by the number of prescribed doses of intravenous and oral therapy in hospital and self-reported adherence of oral therapy after discharge.Acceptability. This was defined as (a) the percentage of patients who fulfilled the entry criteria and consented into the study, (b) the percentage of patients who completed the intravenous treatment, (c) completed oral therapy, and (d) suffered no significant adverse events.Adequacy of vitamin regimen. Determined by measurement of vitamin C concentrations at 24 h in comparison with placebo.Endpoints proposed for the main study were: all-cause mortality was defined as death within 30 days of the index admission; length of hospital stay; time to clinical stabilityThe time to clinical stability was defined as the time (hours) until all vital signs were stable for ≥ 24 h, or 24 h after discharge from hospital if clinical stability has not been reached at the time of discharge. Stable vital signs were temperature of 37.8 °C or lower, heart rate of 100 beats per min or lower, spontaneous respiratory rate of 24 breaths per min or lower, systolic blood pressure of 90 mm Hg or higher (≥ 100 mm Hg for patients diagnosed with hypertension) without vasopressor support, mental status back to level before occurrence of community-acquired pneumonia, ability for oral intake, and adequate oxygenation on room air (PaO