title: Long term observation of MRSA prevalence in a German rehabilitation center: risk factors and variability of colonization rate.
abstract: Background:Data on MRSA prevalence in rehabilitation centers are sparse.Methods:We screened more than 18,000 patients with neurological, cardiac/pulmonary or orthopedic diagnoses treated in three German rehabilitation centers and documented potential risk factors in almost 1,500 of them.Results:2.1% were MRSA positive (CI 1.9%-2.4%). Prevalence was higher in neurologic patients (3.7%) and lower in orthopedic patients (0.9%). While the overall MRSA situation was stable over two years, the weekly MRSA rate fluctuated strongly (0.0% to 8.0%). We confirmed five risk factors in our study population. A risk adapted screening strategy derived from our data had a significance of 74% and a positive predictive value of only 2.2%.Conclusion:MRSA positivity is a rare and highly variable event, requiring a huge sample size to generate robust data. The benefit of a risk-adapted screening strategy over a general screening should be questioned in each individual setting.
authors: Institute of Microbiology, Hygiene and Laboratory Medicine, Klinikum Lippe, Detmold, Germany.
authors: Jens
authors: J
authors: Gieffers
authors: Department of Life Science Technologies, Hochschule Ostwestfalen-Lippe, University of Applied Sciences, Lemgo, Germany.
authors: André
authors: A
authors: Ahuja
authors: Deutsches Beratungszentrum für Hygiene, Freiburg, Germany.
authors: Ronald
authors: R
authors: Giemulla
keywords: Germany; MRSA; prevalence; rehabilitation