Increased prevalence of and associated mortality with methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus among hospitalized IBD patients

Objectives: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection has become increasingly prevalent in US hospitals, and the impact of MRSA on hospitalized inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients is unknown. Methods: We used the Nationwide Inpatient Sample to identify admissions for IBD (n116,842) between 1998 and 2004. We compared prevalence and in-hospital mortality of MRSA among IBD, non-IBD gastrointestinal (GI), and general medical inpatients. Results: MRSA prevalence increased from 4.5/10,000 to 19.0/10,000 over the 7-year period (P0.0001). After adjustment for confounders, IBD inpatients were at increased risk of MRSA compared with the non-IBD GI (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.61; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.33-1.96) and general medical (aOR 1.36; 95% CI: 1.11-1.66) groups. Of those with MRSA, catheter-related infections were specifically more common among IBD compared with non-IBD GI and general inpatients (28.8% vs. 11.0% and 8.5%, respectively, P0.0002). Bowel surgery, parenteral nutrition, and health insurance were predictors of MRSA infection, but the first two became insignificant after controlling for length of stay (LOS). Compared with LOS 7days, MRSA was more likely among those hospitalized 8-21 days (aOR 7.40; 95% CI: 4.68-11.7) and 21 days (aOR 58.6; 95% CI: 36.0-95.3). MRSA infection was associated with sevenfold increase in mortality (aOR 7.61; 95% CI: 3.33-17.4). Conclusions: Hospitalized IBD patients are at increased risk of MRSA compared with non-IBD GI and general medical inpatients. Increased mortality in the IBD population associated with MRSA reinforces the importance of measures to prevent nosocomial infection and to reduce length of hospitalization.