Targeted gown and glove use to prevent Staphylococcus aureus acquisition in community-based nursing homes: A pilot study

Abstract

Objective: To test the feasibility of targeted gown and glove use by healthcare personnel caring for high-risk nursing-home residents to prevent Staphylococcus aureus acquisition in short-stay residents.

Design: Uncontrolled clinical trial.

Setting: This study was conducted in 2 community-based nursing homes in Maryland.

Participants: The study included 322 residents on mixed short- and long-stay units.

Methods: During a 2-month baseline period, all residents had nose and inguinal fold swabs taken to estimate S. aureus acquisition. The intervention was iteratively developed using a participatory human factors engineering approach. During a 2-month intervention period, healthcare personnel wore gowns and gloves for high-risk care activities while caring for residents with wounds or medical devices, and S. aureus acquisition was measured again. Whole-genome sequencing was used to assess whether the acquisition represented resident-to-resident transmission.

Results: Among short-stay residents, the methicillin-resistant S. aureus acquisition rate decreased from 11.9% during the baseline period to 3.6% during the intervention period (odds ratio [OR], 0.28; 95% CI, 0.08-0.92; P = .026). The methicillin-susceptible S. aureus acquisition rate went from 9.1% during the baseline period to 4.0% during the intervention period (OR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.12-1.42; P = .15). The S. aureus resident-to-resident transmission rate decreased from 5.9% during the baseline period to 0.8% during the intervention period.

Conclusions: Targeted gown and glove use by healthcare personnel for high-risk care activities while caring for residents with wounds or medical devices, regardless of their S. aureus colonization status, is feasible and potentially decreases S. aureus acquisition and transmission in short-stay community-based nursing-home residents.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03319368.

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest. Joan Hebden is a consultant for PDI and is on the speaker’s bureau for Cepheid. All other authors report no conflict of interest related to the contents of this manuscript.

Figures

Fig. 1.

Percentage of enrolled short-stay admissions that acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) in the nose or inguinal fold by study period: S. aureus, 16.8% (17 of 101) vs 6.7% (8 of 120) (P = .02); MRSA, 11.9% (10 of 84) vs 3.6% (4 of 111) (P = .026); and MSSA, 9.1% (8 of 88) vs 4.0% (4 of 101) (P = .15).