A study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases examined the prevalence of multidrug-resistant organism colonization in nursing facility patients.
Researchers studied newly admitted patients in six nursing facilities in Michigan using active microbial surveillance of multiple anatomic sites. They sampled the sites at enrollment, day 14 and day 30, followed by every month for up to six months. In all, researchers enrolled 651 patients and collected 7,526 samples over 1,629 visits.
Ninety-five percent of study participants were admitted for post–acute care, and 56.8 percent were colonized with multidrug-resistant organisms at enrollment, including:
• Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus — 16.1 percent
• Vancomycin-resistant enterococci — 33.2 percent
• Resistant gram-negative bacilli —32 percent
Risk factors for colonization at enrollment included:
• Prolonged hospitalization (more than 14 days)
• Functional disability
• Antibiotic use
• Device use
Multidrug-resistant organism colonization at discharge was 56.4 percent among nursing facility patients.