[Risk of nosocomial infection in elderly patients admitted to a university hospital].
BACKGROUND
A high percentage of current hospital visits are made by the elderly. The aim of this work is to quantify the risk of contracting a nosocomial infection among elderly patients admitted to a university hospital.


METHODS
From the patients admitted from the emergency unit, outpatients and the waiting list, 6 patients of different age groups were chosen each day by a simple random sampling. The criteria of nosocomial infection were those of the CDC. The analysis of the information was made with the programme EPIINFO version 5. The chi 2 tests and Fisher's exact test were used to compare proportions.


RESULTS
The rate of nosocomial infection in the group aged over 64 was 14.8%, showing statistically significant differences with respect to other age groups (p = 0.001). In this group the predominant infection was urinary, with an odds-ratio of 3.69, in comparison with the 25 to 44 age group. A prolonged hospital stay (> 15 days) has proved to be closely related to the risk of nosocomial infection in all age groups (p < 0.0001) in patients over 64.


CONCLUSIONS
The greater risk of contracting nosocomial infections in the elderly makes it advisable to develop specific prevention programmes for this group, and the fitness of accommodations the length of stay to the care needs suitable to the hospital level.
Vilella
A
A
Servicio de Medicina Preventiva, Hospital Clínic i Provincial, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Barcelona.
Prat
A
A
Bare
M L
ML
Bayas
J M
JM
Asenjo
M A
MA
Salleras
L
L
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012307:Risk Factors; D013030:Spain