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Functional dependence as a contributing factor for patient hand contamination by multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs) in acute care

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2024

Trenton Behunin
Affiliation:
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, USADepartment of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Ganga Vijayasiri
Affiliation:
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Kristen E. Gibson
Affiliation:
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Lona Mody
Affiliation:
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, USAGeriatrics Research Education and Clinical Center, Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Marco Cassone*
Affiliation:
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
*
Corresponding author: Marco Cassone; Email: mcas@med.umich.edu
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Abstract

Objective:

Patient hands’ contribution to disease transmission in healthcare settings is an important, understudied topic. We assessed correlation between patient functional dependence and hand contamination with multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs) in acute-care settings.

Design, setting, and patients:

Secondary, cross-sectional analyses of 399 general medicine patients enrolled in two tertiary-care hospitals over a six-month period. Our predictor was patient functional status evaluated using Katz Activities of Daily Living scale, scored as follows: functionally independent (scored 0), moderately dependent (score 1–3), and severely dependent (score of 4 or more). Our outcome was patient hand contamination with MDROs, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus, and resistant gram-negative bacteria.

Results:

Of 399 patients, 298 were functionally independent, 45 were moderately dependent, and 56 were severely dependent. Odds of MDRO hand contamination were 2.63 (95% CI, 1.21–5.72) times higher in the severely dependent category compared to the independent category. Patients with feeding dependence had the highest odds of hand contamination with MDROs (OR 4.76, 95% CI, 1.54–14.71), followed by continence, dressing, and toileting. In addition to patient colonization, environmental contamination with MRSA was associated with patient function, with odds 2.60 (95% CI, 1.16–5.82) times higher in severely dependent patients.

Conclusions:

Patients with severe functional dependence are more likely to harbor MDROs on their hands and less likely to be able to cleanse them independently. Functionally dependent patients have high room contamination with MDROs. Patient hand hygiene interventions in the hospital should target this high-risk group.

Information

Type
Original Article
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America
Figure 0

Table 1.Baseline characteristics of acute-care patients by level of dependence in ADLs

Figure 1

Table 2.Distribution of patient hand contamination status upon study testing by level of dependence

Figure 2

Table 3.Association between functional status and patient colonization

Figure 3

Figure 1.Odds Ratios of Dependency in Individual ADLs and MDRO Hand Contamination and Progression of Dependence vs. Hand Contamination. (A) Forest plot of the odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals of dependence in each individual ADL compared to hand contamination with or without nares contamination (red/dark squares) and nares only contamination (green/light squares) by MDROs. Odds ratios greater than one indicate a positive association between dependence in that ADL and contamination by an MDRO. Odds ratios are indicated on the left axis. Overlayed (gray dashed line) is the average of how many additional dependencies a patient tended to have in addition to the dependency being measured. Mean additional dependencies are measured on the right axis. (B) Difficulty ranking was measured using Rasch analysis in Gerrard et al15, ranking from easiest tasks (top) to most difficult tasks (bottom). Hand contamination (with or without nares contamination rankings were determined by ordering odds ratios from highest to lowest. Wilcoxon-ranked sum was also performed (P = 1), indicating that the two lists are not significantly different.

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