Table 2.

Patient and infection characteristics of veterans with MRSA bacteremia at four VHA centers associated with USA300 MRSA, 1997–2008, n=271. ^a

Variable a	Type of MRSA		p-value c
	USA300 MRSA b n=67	Non-USA300 MRSA b n=204
Patient Characteristics
Age in years, mean +/− SD	63 ± 12	68 ± 13	0.003
Race
Black	34 (35)	62 (65)	0.003
Other	33 (19)	142 (81)
Charlson score, mean +/− SD	5.2 ± 3.6	4.9 ± 2.8	0.60
Hospitalized in the year prior to infection
Yes	40 (20)	156 (80)	0.008
No	27 (36)	48 (64)
Residence in a LTCF in the year prior to infection
Yes	10 (22)	36 (78)	0.61
No	57 (25)	168 (75)
Surgery in the year prior to infection
Yes	17 (15)	100 (85)	0.0007
No	50 (32)	104 (68)
Renal failure in the year prior to infection
Yes	42 (25)	127 (75)	0.95
No	25 (25)	77 (75)
Infection Characteristics
Nosocomial infection d
Yes	25 (14)	151 (86)	<0.0001
No	42 (45)	52 (55)
Presence of a central line at time of infection d
Yes	11 (13)	71 (87)	0.004
No	56 (30)	132 (70)
Source of infection d
Primary	19 (19)	82 (81)	0.07
Secondary	48 (29)	119 (71)
Infection complicated by endocarditis d
Yes	9 (32)	19 (68)	0.34
No	57 (24)	182 (76)
Infection complicated by pneumonia d
Yes	8 (18)	37 (82)	0.24
No	57 (26)	161 (74)
Outcome Characteristics
Severe sepsis or septic shock in response to infection d
Yes	19 (30)	44 (70)	0.39
No	48 (25)	146 (75)
Mortality within 90 days of infection
Yes	20 (17)	101 (83)	0.005
No	47 (31)	103 (69)

^aMRSA: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; VHA: Veterans Health Administration; SD: standard deviation; LTCF: long-term care facility.

^bNumbers represent number (row %), unless otherwise indicated.

^cCalculated via use of the Pearson’s χ² or Fisher’s exact tests for categorical variables; the Student’s t-test or Wilcoxon signed rank test for continuous variables.

^dAny numbers not adding up to 271 are due to missing data.