Screening for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriage on admission to a geriatric hospital

Abstract Our objective is to identify risk factors for carriage of MRSA on admission to a geriatric hospital where MRSA is endemic. A prospective screening for MRSA carriage was conducted by swabbing anterior nares and anal skin for 6 weeks. One hundred and thirty-eight patients aged over 65 were en...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archives of gerontology and geriatrics 2009-09, Vol.49 (2), p.242-245
Main Authors: Nishikawa, Mitsunori, Tanaka, Tomoko, Nakashima, Kazumitsu, Senda, Kazuyoshi, Shibasaki, Masataka, Miura, Hisayuki, Tamakoshi, Akiko, Ohta, Toshiki, Yagi, Tetsuya
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Anal Canal - microbiology
Carriage of MRSA by elderly
Carrier State - diagnosis
Carrier State - epidemiology
Carrier State - microbiology
Diagnostic Tests, Routine
Female
Geriatric hospitals
Geriatrics
Hospitalization
Hospitals, Special
Humans
Hypoalbuminemia
Immobilization
Infection control
Internal Medicine
Male
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus - isolation & purification
MRSA
Nasal Cavity - microbiology
Population Surveillance
Risk Factors
Risk factors of MRSA
Screening
Staphylococcus aureus
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract Our objective is to identify risk factors for carriage of MRSA on admission to a geriatric hospital where MRSA is endemic. A prospective screening for MRSA carriage was conducted by swabbing anterior nares and anal skin for 6 weeks. One hundred and thirty-eight patients aged over 65 were enrolled after obtaining their informed consent. Swabs of anterior nares and anal skin of patients were submitted for culture for MRSA. The demographic, administrative, and clinical data for each participant were recorded, and their association with MRSA carriage was determined by stepwise regression analysis. MRSA was recovered from 11 patients (11/138 patients, 8.0%), and from anal skin in 8 of them. Without screening of anal skin, 5 out of 11 carriers had been missed. Multivariate analysis revealed that hypoalbuminemia (adjusted risk ratio, RR = 6.39, 95% confidence interval, CI = 1.08–37.84) and bedridden status (RR = 8.26, CI = 1.04–65.31) were independent risk factors. Screening of elderly patients for gastrointestinal colonization on admission had implications for early detection of the reservoir of MRSA. Systematic selective screening for MRSA carriage targeting high-risk patients with hypoalbuminemia or bedridden status would be useful for infection control of this resistant organism.
ISSN:0167-4943
1872-6976
DOI:10.1016/j.archger.2008.08.012