Table 1.

Characteristics of patients in the intervention and control groups

Characteristic	Intervention group (n = 42)	Control group (n = 40)	P value
Male sex, n (%)	41 (98)	37 (93)	.35
Age, y, median	64	63	.65
Long-term care facility resident,	7(17)	8 (20)	.78
n (%)
Medical condition, n (%)
Diabetes	19 (45)	14(35)	.06
Cancer	10(24)	6(15)	.41
Chronic lung disease	12(29)	11 (28)	1.0
Surgery in the past 3 mo	13(31)	8 (20)	.32
Colonized on admission, n (%)
MRSA	0(0)	1 (2)	.49
VRE	7(17)	4(10)	.52
Fluoroquinolone-resistant	6 (14)	5(13)	1.0
gram-negative bacilli
Candida spp	410)	6(15)	.51
Proton pump inhibitor, n (%)	26 (62)	25 (51)	1.0
Antibiotics within 90 d, n (%)	22 (52)	19(48)	.83

MRSA, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; VRE, vancomycin-resistant enterococci.