In community-dwelling middleaged and older adults, MRSA colonization is linked with a significant risk for mortality, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. Arch G, Mainous, PhD, and colleagues evaluated the 11-year mortality risk for MRSA colonization in adults aged 40-85 (N=6,085), utilizing 2001-2004 NHANES data linked to the National Death Index through December 31, 2015. The researchers found that the mortality rates in this time frame were 35.9% (95% CI, 25.4%- 46.4%) for participants with MRSA colonization and 17.8% (95% CI, 16.4%-19.2%) for participants with no MRSA colonization. The HR for mortality among those colonized with MRSA, after adjusting for potential confounders, was 1.75 (95% CI, 1.12-2.73). “Considering that this effect was in the community and not in hospitalized patients, this finding of increased mortality risk is especially troubling,” the study authors wrote.
