Incidence of hospital-acquired infections in Italian long-term-care facilities: a prospective six-month surveillance

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), tower 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 >= 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). (c) 2006 The Hospital Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.