Infection trends in home health care, 2013-2018

• Published in: Infection control and hospital epidemiology Vol. 42; no. 11; pp. 1388 - 1390
• Main Authors: Harrison, Jordan M, Dick, Andrew W, Stone, Patricia W, Chastain, Ashley M, Sorbero, Mark, Furuya, E Yoko, Shang, Jingjing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Cambridge University Press 01.11.2021
• Subjects: Bacterial infections; Beneficiaries; Catheters; Health care; Home Care Services; Home health care; Hospitals; Humans; Medical instruments; Medicare; Mortality; Older people; Patient safety; Risk factors; Sepsis; Trends; Urinary tract infections; New York; United States > US
• ISSN: 0899-823X; 1559-6834
• DOI: 10.1017/ice.2021.248

Infections are a frequent cause of hospital (re)admissions for older adults receiving home health care (HHC), and the Joint Commission has identified infection prevention and control in HHC as a national patient safety goal.1 HHC patients who are immunocompromised or recovering from surgical procedures are particularly susceptible to infections.2 Many sepsis survivors are discharged from the hospital to HHC and have high rates of readmission for recurrent infections and related complications.2–4 Reported prevalence of infections in HHC has varied from 5% to 80%, depending on the patient population.5 Using data from the Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS), the standardized assessment tool mandated for all Medicare-certified HHC agencies, Shang et al6 found that 17% of unplanned hospitalizations in HHC were due to 4 types of infection: (1) respiratory infection, (2) urinary tract infection (UTI), (3) wound site (skin or soft-tissue) infection, and (4) intravenous (IV) catheter-related. [...]this study likely underestimated the prevalence of infections leading to hospitalization because the data were limited to infections reported in OASIS.6 In this study, we used 2013–2018 OASIS assessment data linked to Medicare inpatient data to estimate trends in the prevalence of infection in hospital transfers among HHC patients and subsequent 30-day mortality. Shang J, Ma C, Poghosyan L, Dowding D, Stone P. The prevalence of infections and patient risk factors in home health care: a systematic review.