MONDAY, Jan. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Seniors in long-term care
facilities have a roughly threefold increased risk for respiratory
or gastrointestinal infections if they visit a hospital emergency
department in the fall, winter or spring, according to a new
study.
Canadian researchers looked at 1,269 elderly residents of 22
long-term care facilities in Toronto, Ontario, and Montreal and
Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec between September 2006 and May 2008.
The investigators noted that they focused on non-summer months
because that's when higher rates of respiratory and
gastrointestinal infections occur.
During the study period, 424 of the seniors visited an emergency
department for a variety of conditions other than acute respiratory
and gastrointestinal symptoms, and 845 did not go to an emergency
department.
The seniors who went to an emergency department had a higher
rate of chronic illnesses and tended to be less independent than
those who did not go to an emergency department.
The researchers found that seniors who visited an emergency
department were about three times more likely to develop an acute
respiratory or gastrointestinal infection in the week following the
visit, but only if there was no outbreak in the resident's
facility.
The incidence of infection was 8.3 per 1,000 resident-days among
those who visited an emergency department, compared with 3.4 per
1,000 resident-days among those who didn't go to an emergency
department, according to the study published in the Jan. 23 issue
of
CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
"Once systemic reasons for the transmission of infection in emergency departments are understood, interventions to reduce the risk should be studied," Dr. Caroline Quach of Montreal Children's Hospital, McGill University Health Center, and colleagues, wrote in a journal news release.
"In the meantime, considerations should be given to the implementation of additional precautions for residents for five to seven days after their return from the emergency department," the study authors added.
More information
The AGS Foundation for Health in Aging has more about
infections in older adults.