Background: Limited prospective data are available for elderly patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). This study aimed to determine the efficacy and safety of moxifloxacin versus that of levofloxacin for the treatment of CAP in hospitalized elderly patients (age, > or = 65 years).
Methods: We conducted a prospective, double-blind, randomized, controlled trial. Eligible patients were stratified by CAP severity before randomization to receive treatment with either intravenous/oral moxifloxacin (400 mg daily) or intravenous/oral levofloxacin (500 mg daily) for 7-14 days. Clinical response at test-of-cure (the primary efficacy end point was between days 5 and 21 after completion of therapy), and clinical response during therapy (between days 3 and 5 after the start of therapy) and bacteriologic response were secondary end points.
Results: The safety population included 394 patients (195 in the moxifloxacin group and 199 in the levofloxacin group). The population eligible for clinical efficacy analysis (i.e., the clinically valid population) included 281 patients (141 in the moxifloxacin group and 140 in the levofloxacin group); 51.3% were male, and the mean age (+/-SD) was 77.4 +/- 7.7 years. Cure rates at test-of-cure for the clinically valid population were 92.9% in the moxifloxacin arm and 87.9% in the levofloxacin arm (95% confidence interval [CI], -1.9 to 11.9; P = .2). Clinical recovery by days 3-5 after the start of treatment was 97.9% in the moxifloxacin arm vs. 90.0% in the levofloxacin arm (95% CI, 1.7-14.1; P = .01). In the moxifloxacin group, cure rates were 92.6% for patients with mild or moderate CAP and 94.7% for patients with severe CAP, compared with cure rates of 88.6% and 84.6%, respectively, in the levofloxacin group (P = not significant). Cure rates in the moxifloxacin arm were 90.0% for patients aged 65-74 years and 94.5% for patients aged > or = 75 years, compared with 85.0% and 90.0%, respectively, in the levofloxacin arm (P = not significant). There were no statistically significant differences between the treatment groups with regard to drug-related adverse events.
Conclusions: Intravenous/oral moxifloxacin therapy was efficacious and safe for hospitalized elderly patients with CAP, achieving > 90% cure in all severity and age subgroups, and was associated with faster clinical recovery than intravenous/oral levofloxacin therapy, with a comparable safety profile.