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Treatment Decisions for Infections Occurring in Nursing Home Residents
Author(s) -
Mott Peter D.,
Barker William H.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1988.tb04266.x
Subject(s) - medicine , nursing homes , urinary system , acute care , respiratory tract infections , intensive care medicine , intervention (counseling) , retrospective cohort study , antibiotics , emergency medicine , nursing , respiratory system , health care , biology , economic growth , microbiology and biotechnology , economics
This retrospective study examines the effect of guidelines on clinical decision‐making in the treatment of acute infections in nursing home residents. Among 110 patients followed over 7 years, infections caused 54% of acute medically attended problems, 48% of hospitalizations, and 63% of deaths. Patients designated to receive comfort care, when compared with maximum care patients, had a higher percentage of acute problems, hospitalizations, and deaths caused by infections. Antibiotic treatment was given far less often to comfort care patients with respiratory, urinary tract, and skin infections. Implications of such an intervention in nursing home care are discussed.