The aim of this study was to reevaluate patients diagnosed as pneumonia in our outpatient clinic in an effort to determine whether these patients really had pneumonia and needed antibiotic therapy. Over a 14-month period, 119 children who were diagnosed as pneumonia were prospectively evaluated. In order to find a relationship, specificity and sensitivity were defined. The diagnosis of pneumonia was ruled out in 48 of the 119 (40%) patient included. An incorrect diagnosis of pneumonia was made in 40% of cases and antibiotics were prescribed unnecessarily in 85%. Tachypnea, which had a specificity of 99% and sensitivity of 61%, was the most important criteria in diagnosing pneumonia. We believe that children who present with cough only do not always need antibiotic treatment. Tachypnea and auscultation findings are important criteria for diagnosing and treating pneumonia.