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).