917 - Persistence of Multidrug-Resistant Organisms during Occupancy Changes in the Nursing Home Setting, and Impact of Patient Hand Hygiene Assistance

Background: We investigated the effect of changes in room occupancy, and patient hand hygiene, on the burden of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO) in nursing homes. We assessed: 1/ persistence of MDRO after patients are discharged; and 2/ impact of hand hygiene assistance on colonization and room contamination.

Methods: Prospective cohort study of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin or meropenem-resistant gram-negative bacilli (rGNB) in 9 single rooms screened three times a week for 34 weeks (five environmental surfaces, plus nares, groin, and hands of enrolled patients). Relative risk (RR) for patient colonization and room contamination were calculated in patient visits based on: 1/ performance of hand hygiene, and 2/ receiving assistance to perform it.

Results: We collected 4670 swabs over a total of 723 visits. Of 143 patient discharges, 31 times the room was swabbed before another patient was admitted (41 total visits), 48 times the next admitted patient was enrolled and available to be swabbed (295 visits), and 64 times the patient was not enrolled but the environment was sampled (387 total visits) (Figure).
Twenty-four (50%) patients were colonized at least once with an MDRO. Rooms were contaminated at least once with MDRO in 72 cases (64%).  MDRO persistence during occupancy changes involving at least one screened patient was observed in 21 of 73 cases (29%). In addition, we detected 2 cases of contamination of unoccupied, terminally cleaned rooms with MDRO recovered also in the previous (MRSA) or the following occupancy (VRE).
In 40 occasions, patients performed hand hygiene with assistance from healthcare personnel, while in 169 occasions they performed hand hygiene by themselves. Requiring assistance was a risk factor for patient colonization (27.5% vs. 12.4% not requiring assistance (RR 2.20, 95% CI 1.16-4.18), and for room contamination (37.5% vs. 18.9%, RR 1.97, 95% CI 1.18-3.27) (Table).
 Figure. Example of successive changes in room occupancy.
Table. Breakdown of colonization and contamination at each visit according to hand hygiene performance and need for assistance.


Conclusion: MDRO can persist during changes in patient occupancy. Patients requiring assistance with hand hygiene experienced a higher MDRO burden. These observations call for further investigation of improved cleaning practices and patient assistance.