Infections and hospital bed-days among aging adults: A five-year retrospective study in a Belgian general hospital.

Background

Infectious disease in aging adults (≥61 years) often occurs in combination with other health conditions leading to long hospital stays. Detailed studies on infection in aging adults investigating this problem are sparse.

Aim

To quantify the effect of primary and secondary diagnosed infections on hospitalization bed-days among aging adult patients.

Design

Retrospective patient-file study.

Setting

Ziekenhuis Netwerk Antwerpen (ZNA) Hospital, a 1,858-bed general hospital in Belgium, with 364 beds allocated to geriatric patients.

Data source

Database of hospitalized adult patients aged ≥61 years.

Methods

All adult patients aged ≥61 years hospitalized on two wards, Geriatrics and Pulmonology, from 2010 to 2014 were included. Primary diagnosed infections were defined as infections known at entry to be treated first. Secondary diagnosed infections included infections known at entry but treated in parallel to primary non-infectious causes of entry, infections unknown at entry, and hospital-acquired (nosocomial) infections. Data were analyzed by patient age, gender, year, ward type, bed-days of hospitalization, infection rates, and seasonality.

Results

There were 3,306 primary diagnosed infections (18%) and 14,758 secondary infections (82%) identified in the two wards combined (54.7% of all hospital stays at those 2 wards). Secondary diagnosed infections accounted for a significantly higher proportion of hospitalizations in both wards (+40% for Geriatric ward; +20% for Pulmonology ward;

Conclusion

Real-world data showed that secondary diagnosed infections in aging adults imposed a high burden on hospital care along with longer hospital stays. This hampered bed availability during peak seasons.

Informations de copyright

© 2022 De Cock, Strens, Van Osta and Standaert.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

BS is employed by HEBO. DS is employed by Realidad. BS has received consultancy fees, unrelated to the present work, from GSK Vaccines, Biondvax, and Evidera-PMM. DS received a consultancy fee from GSK Vaccines to initiate the study in 2019. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.