hospital-acquired infections in elderly versus younger patients in an acute care hospital

Background:a growing number of elderly patients are hospitalized for various causes and age has been described inconsistently as a risk factor for acquiring nosocomial infections with a subsequent higher mortality rate compared to younger patients.objectives:to describe the incidence, type, and microbiological characteristics of nosocomial infections in elderly and nonelderly patients.patients and methods:retrospective analysis of all hospitalacquired infections (hais) in an academic community hospital. patients were stratified into two groups: nonelderly (18 64 years) and elderly ( > 65 years).results:a total of 18469 patients were included (108555 hospital days) in this study. about 79.6% of hai were infected nonelderly and 20.3% elderly (p < 0.0001) patients. higher infection rates for ventilatorassociated pneumonia (vap), secondary bacteremia, and catheterassociated urinary tract infections were noted for elderly as well as a higher frequency of positive cultures for gramnegative bacteria, particularly klebsiella spp. and fungal infections (p > 0.05). hospital mortality increased with every hai diagnosed per patient.conclusions:the study showed that hais were more frequent in elderly population predominately with respect to vap and infections by gramnegative pathogens. overall mortally was greater in the elderly group although the odds ratio for death was higher in younger patients and increased with every hai diagnosed.