TABLE 1.

Index person-related potential risk factors for MRSA transmission

Potential risk factor	Transmission of MRSA (n = 29)a	No transmission of MRSA (n = 33)a	P value	OR (95% CI)
Characteristics of index persons
Health care worker	5 (17)	11 (33)	0.15	0.42 (0.13-1.39)
Male	17 (59)	19 (58)	0.93	1.04 (0.38-2.87)
Median age in yrs (range)	25 (0-87)	45 (0-80)	0.05b
Age group in yrs
0-10	8 (28)	7 (21)	0.93
11-20	1 (3)	0 (0)	1.00
21-60	17 (59)	22 (67)	0.52	0.68 (0.21-2.23)
>61	3 (10)	4 (12)	0.65	0.66 (0.11-4.00)
Characteristics of MRSA colonization
Median no. (range) of sites colonized	3 (1-5)	2 (1-5)	0.15b
Colonization at least in:
Nose	26 (90)	28 (85)	0.71	1.55 (0.34-7.13)
Throat (n = 61)	24 (83)	18 (56)	0.03	3.73 (1.14-12.27)
Perineum (n = 61)	13 (45)	10 (21)	0.28	1.79 (0.63-5.09)
Elsewhere	14 (48)	13 (39)	0.48	1.44 (0.52-3.94)
Colonization only:
In throat	1 (3)	2 (6)	0.63	0.55 (0.05-6.44)
Elsewhere than throat	5 (17)	15 (46)	0.02	0.25 (0.08-0.82)
Colonization in throat and elsewhere	24 (83)	18 (55)	0.02	4.00 (1.23-13.05)
Skin-related risk factors
Nonintact skin	12 (41)	19 (58)	0.20	0.52 (0.19-1.43)
Skin problems	8 (28)	6 (18)	0.38	1.71 (0.52-5.71)
Eczema (n = 58)	4 (14)	0 (0)	0.05c
Wounds	6 (21)	16 (42)	0.02	0.28 (0.09-0.86)
Indwelling devices	4 (15)	10 (30)	0.12	0.37 (0.10-1.34)
Exposure
No. of household members [median (range)]	3 (1-7)	1 (1-10)	0.007b
Exposure time in days [median (range)] (n = 56)	29 (1-1,134)	14.5 (2-330)	0.07b
Exposure time at home in days [median (range)] (n = 51)	41 (1-1,134)	15 (1-330)	0.04b

^aValues are the number (%) of index persons with the risk factor, unless otherwise indicated.

^bMann-Whitney test (two-sided).

^cFisher's exact test.