Factors associated with nosocomial infection in the elderly in the Intensive Care Unit
Abstract
Background: The elderly have increased vulnerability to disease and exposure to hospital infections.
Aims: The study aims to evaluate the clinical and epidemiological factors associated with nosocomial infection in the elderly.
Methods: A retrospective study with a population of 625 elderly patients admitted to intensive care units and a sample of 308 elderly who developed nosocomial infection from January 2012 to June 2015.
Results: A total of 49.7% of the elderly presented a growth of micro-organisms in tracheal aspirates. The diseases classified as "other" increased likelihood of tracheal infection (3.61, 95% - CI 1.84 to 7.10; p = 0.005) and the probability of growth of micro-organism in the culture performed elsewhere - general (8.96, 95% - CI 3.03 to 26.49; p = 0.005). Surgical procedures increased the chance of growth of micro-organisms in tracheal secretion culture (OR 1.96, 95% CI 1.11 to 3.48) and surgical site culture (OR 5.06, 95% CI 1, from 76 to 14.55). The neurological disease increased the chance of growth of micro-organisms in the cultures of tracheal secretions, blood and general (OR 3.80, 95% CI 1.22 to 11.83; OR 3.27, 95% CI 1.24 - 8.66; OR 15.61, 95% CI 4.78 to 50.98). The pneumothorax increases by four times the probability of growth of micro-organisms in the catheter tip (OR 4.17, 95% CI 1.24 to 13.97). Chronic and acute renal failure and other diagnoses increased by eighteen times the chance of growth of micro-organisms in general culture (OR 18.06, 95% CI 3.63 to 89.86).
Conclusion: The main risk factors for nosocomial infection of elderly in the Intensive Care Unit are chronic and acute renal failure, neurological diseases and surgical procedures and must be adopted a policy of prevention and control of nosocomial infection in the treatment of the elderly.
Keywords: Elderly, Cross infection, Intensive care.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access and Benefits of Publishing Open Access).
