title: The impact of methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia on patient outcomes: mortality, length of stay, and hospital charges.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the impact of methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus on mortality, length of hospitalization, and hospital charges.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cohort study of patients admitted to the hospital between July 1, 1997, and June 1, 2000, who had clinically significant S. aureus bloodstream infections.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 630-bed, urban, tertiary-care teaching hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three hundred forty-eight patients with S. aureus bacteremia were studied; 96 patients had methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Patients with methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) and MRSA were similar regarding gender, percentage of nosocomial acquisition, length of hospitalization, ICU admission, and surgery before S. aureus bacteremia. They differed regarding age, comorbidities, and illness severity score.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Similar numbers of MRSA and MSSA patients died (22.9% vs 19.8%; P = .53). Both the median length of hospitalization after S. aureus bacteremia for patients who survived and the median hospital charges after S. aureus bacteremia were significantly increased in MRSA patients (7 vs 9 days, P = .045; 19,212 dollars vs 26,424 dollars, P = .008). After multivariable analysis, compared with MSSA bacteremia, MRSA bacteremia remained associated with increased length of hospitalization (1.29 fold; P = .016) and hospital charges (1.36 fold; P = .017). MRSA bacteremia had a median attributable length of stay of 2 days and a median attributable hospital charge of 6916 dollars.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Methicillin resistance in S. aureus bacteremia is associated with significant increases in length of hospitalization and hospital charges.
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA. scosgro1@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: Sara E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Cosgrove
authors.forename: Youlin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Keith S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Kaye
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Harbarth
authors.forename: Adolf W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Karchmer
authors.forename: Yehuda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Carmeli
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001900:Boston / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000145:classification / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D016106:Methicillin Resistance; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000145:classification / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016896:Treatment Outcome