Abstract
This study evaluated the prevalence of clinical multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) and analyzed correlations between MDROs and patient characteristics in a regional teaching hospital of Taiwan. A retrospective comparative case-control study was conducted from January 2016 to August 2018 by collecting data from 486 hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients (M = 286, F = 200), including patient gender and age, microbial species, and antibiotic susceptibility. The results indicated that at least one MDRO was isolated from 5.3⁻6.3% of patients (p < 0.05), with an average age of 61.08 years. Of the MDROs strains, vancomycin-resistant enterococcus and carbapenem-resistant acinetobacter baumannii increased annually (p < 0.002 and p < 0.012, respectively). Three factors of age (over 60 years), treatment in an intensive care unit (ICU), and specimen category were statistically significant (p < 0.039, p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively) and indicated that elderly patients in an ICU have a higher risk of being infected by MDROs. The outpatients infected by methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were more frequent than inpatients, implying the existence of community-acquired MRSA strains. The results of this study could provide valuable information for the detection and colonization of multidrug-resistant organisms in hospital infection control systems.