title: Incidence of hospital-acquired infections in Italian long-term-care facilities: a prospective six-month surveillance.
abstract: This study presents results from a six-month prospective surveillance of hospital-acquired infections in four Italian long-term-care facilities (LTCFs). Eight hundred and fifty-nine patients were enrolled and 21 503 person-days were observed. Two hundred and fifty-four hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) occurred in 188 patients. The overall infection rate was 11.8 per 1000 person-days. The most frequent infections were urinary tract infections (3.2 per 1000 person-days), lower respiratory tract infections (2.7 per 1000 person-days) and skin infections (2.5 per 1000 person-days). Risks related to HAI in a multi-variate regression model were: length of stay >or=28 days [odds ratio (OR) 3.5, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 2.4-5.0]; presence of a device (OR 2.0, 95%CI 1.3-3.0); Norton scale <12 (OR 1.8, 95%CI 1.2-2.6); and being bedridden (OR 1.7, 95%CI 1.08-2.6). The presence of HAI increased the median length of stay (31 days vs 20 days, P<0.01) without a significant influence on fatal outcome (OR 1.4, 95%CI 0.7-2.7).
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental and Clinical Pathology and Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Udine, Udine, Italy. s.brusaferro@med.uniud.it
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brusaferro
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Regattin
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Silvestro
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vidotto
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008134:Long-Term Care; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009735:Nursing Homes; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors