CURB-65 and CRB-65 Severity Scores for Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP)

Clinical factor	Points
Confusion	1
Blood urea nitrogen > 19 mg per dL	1
Respiratory rate > 30 breaths per minute	1
Systolic blood pressure < 90 mm Hg or Diastolic blood pressure < 60 mm Hg	1
Age > 65 years	1
Total points:

CURB-65 score	Mortality (%)	Recommendation
0	0.6	Low risk; consider home treatment
1	2.7	Low risk; consider home treatment
2	6.8	Short inpatient hospitalization or closely supervised outpatient treatment
3	14.0	Severe pneumonia; hospitalize and consider admitting to intensive care
4 or 5	27.8

CRB-65 score	Mortality (%)	Recommendation
0	0.9	Very low risk of death; usually does not require hospitalization
1	5.2	Increased risk of death; consider hospitalization
2	12.0	Increased risk of death; consider hospitalization
3 or 4	31.2	High risk of death; urgent hospitalization

CURB-65 = Confusion, Urea nitrogen, Respiratory rate, Blood pressure, 65 years of age and older.

CRB-65 = Confusion, Respiratory rate, Blood pressure, 65 years of age and older.

References:

Aujesky D, Auble TE, Yealy DM, Stone RA, Obrosky DS, Meehan TP, Graff LG, Fine JM, Fine MJ. Prospective comparison of three validated prediction rules for prognosis in community-acquired pneumonia. Am J Med. 2005 Apr;118(4):384-92. [Medline]
Lim WS, van der Eerden MM, Laing R, Boersma WG, Karalus N, Town GI, Lewis SA, Macfarlane JT. Defining community acquired pneumonia severity on presentation to hospital: an international derivation and validation study. Thorax. 2003 May;58(5):377-82. [Medline]