Analysis of the predictive value of platelet parameters for the prognosis of elderly patients with severe pneumonia

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of platelet parameters to predict outcomes in elderly patients with severe pneumonia. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 197 elderly patients with severe pneumonia. The patients were divided into two groups based on their survival in 28 days: the survival group (148 cases) and the death group (49 cases). Results: The Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) scores were significantly higher in the death group compared to the survival group (p < 0.05). Platelet count (PLT) was significantly lower (p < 0.05), while platelet distribution width (PDW), mean platelet volume (MPV), and platelet-large cell ratio (P-LCR) were significantly higher in the death group than the survival group (p < 0.05). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed that the platelet parameters PLT, PDW, MPV and P-LCR had area under curve (AUC) values of 0.834, 0.760, 0.847 and 0.842, respectively, for predicting 28-day mortality in elderly patients. The combined AUC for these four platelet parameters was 0.964, which was significantly higher than that of any individual parameter (p < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis also demonstrated that PLT, PDW, MPV and P-LCR were all associated with the 28-day prognosis of patients (p < 0.05). Multivariable logistic regression analysis identified APACHE II score, PDW, MPV and P-LCR as independent risk factors for poor prognosis in elderly patients with severe pneumonia (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that PLT, PDW, MPV and P-LCR could be utilized as prognostic indicators for elderly patients with severe pneumonia as these parameters were notably different between the death and survival groups of these patients. Integrating changes in various platelet parameters hold the potential for improving the prognostic evaluation of elderly individuals with severe pneumonia.

Platelet parameters; Severe pneumonia; Prognosis; Predictive value

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