• Oliver Schmalz, Tobias Strapatsas, Christof Alefelder, and Scott Oliver Grebe.
• Medical Clinic 1, Division of Oncology and Palliative Care, HELIOS Klinikum Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany Oliver.Schmalz@helios-kliniken.de.
• Palliat Med. 2016 Jul 1; 30 (7): 703-6.

BackgroundMethicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a common organism in hospitals worldwide and is associated with morbidity and mortality. However, little is known about the prevalence in palliative care patients. Furthermore, there is no standardized screening protocol or treatment for patients for whom therapy concentrates on symptom control.AimExamining the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in palliative care patients as well as the level of morbidity and mortality.DesignWe performed a prospective study where methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus screening was undertaken in 296 consecutive patients within 48 h after admission to our palliative care unit. Medical history was taken, clinical examination was performed, and the Karnofsky Performance Scale and Palliative Prognostic Score were determined. Prevalence of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was compared to data of general hospital patients.ResultsIn total, 281 patients were included in the study having a mean age of 69.7 years (standard deviation = 12.9 years) and an average Karnofsky Performance Scale between 30% and 40%. The mean length of stay was 9.7 days (standard deviation = 7.6 days). A total of 24 patients were methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus positive on the first swab. Median number of swabs was 2. All patients with a negative methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus swab upon admission remained Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus negative in all subsequent swabs.ConclusionOur study suggests that the prevalence of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus among patients in an in-hospital palliative care unit is much higher than in other patient populations.© The Author(s) 2016.

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