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. 2019 Mar 6;47(8):911–915. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2019.02.001

Table 3.

Demographics and results of residents with RTI signs and symptoms identified for PCR testing

Demographics N = 72*
Median age in years (range) 76 (60-91)
Male sex (%) 48 (66.7)
Comorbidities (%)
 Cognitive impairment 59 (81.9)
 Depression or anxiety 41 (56.9)
 Inability to ambulate independently 36 (50.0)
 Coronary artery disease 29 (40.3)
 Chronic respiratory disease 24 (33.3)
 Diabetes 23 (31.9)
 Assisted feeding 11 (15.3)
PCR results (%)
 None detected 33 (45.8)
 Rhinovirus or enterovirus 20 (27.8)
 Influenza A 14 (19.4)
 Declined test 5 (6.9)
Other investigations (%)
 Positive sputum microbiology 1 (1.4)
 Radiographic suspicion of pneumonia 0 (0.0)
 Positive blood culture 0 (0.0)
 Positive urine microscopy and culture 0 (0.0)
 White blood cell count suspicion of infection 0 (0.0)
Episode outcomes (%)
 Recovered in nursing home 67 (93.1)
 Palliative care/died 4 (5.6)
 Transferred to hospital 1 (1.4)

PCR, polymerase chain reaction; RTI, respiratory tract infection.

Some residents are counted more than once.

In most cases, these investigations were not ordered (sputum microbiology n = 2, chest radiograph n = 3, blood culture n = 3, urine microscopy and culture n = 4, white blood cell count n = 5).