To explore the effects of establishing a high dependency unit (HDU) on the prognosis, outcome, and expenditure of patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia (SCAP). 108 SCAP patients were recruited from the respiratory intensive care unit (RICU) of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China. Of these, 87 qualified the study-selection criteria and were divided into HDU group (treated in HDU after discharge from RICU prior to transfer to normal unit) (n = 40) and normal group (not treated in the HDU) (n = 47). In the 87 patients, 40 were divided into HDU group, which meant they transferring to HDU when got stable while another 47 were divided into normal group which meant they staying longer in RICU and transferring to normal unit when got stable. Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores, duration of mechanical ventilation, hospital infection, intensive care unit syndrome, length of stay, and expenditure were compared between the two groups. The primary outcome was discharging from hospital while the secondary outcome was length of stay. There was no significant difference with respect to noninvasive ventilation time, oxygenation index, or APACHE II and SOFA scores at admission or discharge from RICU (P > 0.05). The mean invasive ventilation time (176 ± 160 h) of the HDU group was not significantly different from that in the normal group (206 ± 179 h). The period of sequential noninvasive ventilation in the HDU group (135 ± 82 h) was significantly shorter than that in the normal group (274 ± 182 h, P < 0.05). The HDU group had a shorter length of stay in hospital and RICU, and incurred lesser expenditure than patients in the normal group (P < 0.05). Patients in HDU group had almost the same therapeutic effect with shorter length of stay in hospital and RICU, and lesser expenditure.
