Description

Harbarth et al developed a score for identifying a surgical patient who has been colonized with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on admission to the hospital. This can help to identify high risk patients who should be screened prior to surgery to reduce post-operative infections. The authors are from the University of Geneva.


Parameters:

(1) age of the patient in years

(2) previous hospitalization within the past 12 months

(3) previous antibiotics within the past 6 months

 

Parameter

Finding

Points

age in years

<= 75 years

0

 

> 75 years

2

previous hospitalization

no

0

 

yes

3

previous antibiotic use

no

0

 

yes

4

 

total score =

= SUM(points for all 3 parameters)

 

Interpretation:

• minimum score: 0

• maximum score: 9

• The higher the score the greater the chances that the patient is colonized with MRSA.

 

Total Score

MRSA Colonization

0 or 1

5%

2 to 6

11%

7 to 9

34%

 

Performance:

• The area under the ROC curve was 0.70.


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