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BackgroundInfectious disease in aging adults (≥61 years) often occurs in combination with other health conditions leading to long hospital stays. Detailed studies on infection in aging adults investigating this problem are sparse.AimTo quantify the effect of primary and secondary diagnosed infections on hospitalization bed-days among aging adult patients.DesignRetrospective patient-file study.SettingZiekenhuis Netwerk Antwerpen (ZNA) Hospital, a 1,858-bed general hospital in Belgium, with 364 beds allocated to geriatric patients.Data sourceDatabase of hospitalized adult patients aged ≥61 years.MethodsAll adult patients aged ≥61 years hospitalized on two wards, Geriatrics and Pulmonology, from 2010 to 2014 were included. Primary diagnosed infections were defined as infections known at entry to be treated first. Secondary diagnosed infections included infections known at entry but treated in parallel to primary non-infectious causes of entry, infections unknown at entry, and hospital-acquired (nosocomial) infections. Data were analyzed by patient age, gender, year, ward type, bed-days of hospitalization, infection rates, and seasonality.ResultsThere were 3,306 primary diagnosed infections (18%) and 14,758 secondary infections (82%) identified in the two wards combined (54.7% of all hospital stays at those 2 wards). Secondary diagnosed infections accounted for a significantly higher proportion of hospitalizations in both wards (+40% for Geriatric ward; +20% for Pulmonology ward; p |
