ArticleAmerican journal of infection control2019
Optimizing treatment of respiratory tract infections in nursing homes: Nurse-initiated polymerase chain reaction testing.
Article in American journal of infection control, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Nucleic Acid-based Testing for Noninfluenza Viral Pathogens in Adults with Suspected Community-acquired Pneumonia. An Official American Thoracic Society Clinical Practice Guideline.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2021Guideline
- [Recommendations on prevention and treatment of respiratory infections in institutionalised older people].Revista espanola de quimioterapia : publicacion oficial de la Sociedad Espanola de Quimioterapia · 2025Review
- A hidden gem in multidisciplinary antimicrobial stewardship: a systematic review on bedside nurses' activities in daily practice regarding antibiotic use.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2023Review
- Reimagining Infection Control in U.S. Nursing Homes in the Era of COVID-19.Journal of the American Medical Directors Association · 2022Article
- Utility and Applicability of Rapid Diagnostic Testing in Antimicrobial Stewardship in the Asia-Pacific Region: A Delphi Consensus.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2022Article
- Evaluation of Viruses Associated With Acute Respiratory Infections in Long-Term Care Facilities Using a Novel Method: Wisconsin, 2016‒2019.Journal of the American Medical Directors Association · 2020Article
- The 2018 Aged Care National Antimicrobial Prescribing Survey: results show room for improvement.Australian prescriber · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDiagnostic testing using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is infrequently initiated for diagnosis of respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in nursing homes. The objectives of this study were to determine the feasibility of implementing nurse-initiated PCR testing of respiratory specimens in nursing home settings and to compare antibiotic prescribing prior to and during the implementation.
methodsThis was a pragmatic, historically controlled study in 3 nursing homes (181 total beds) in Melbourne, Australia.
resultsThe number of PCR tests of respiratory specimens (over 12 months) increased from 5 to 67 when nurses could initiate the tests. Residents with RTI symptoms had a virus identified by PCR in 50.7% of tests, including 14 positive for influenza. Six outbreaks were identified. When clustering was taken into consideration, incidence rates of antibiotic days of therapy did not change (incidence rate ratio = 0.94, 95% confidence interval, 0.25-3.35, P = .92) despite identification of more viral pathogens.
conclusionsIn nursing homes, nurse-initiated PCR testing of respiratory specimens is feasible and useful in terms of identifying the cause of many RTIs and outbreaks, and viruses are common in this context. However, the current study suggests the availability of these test results alone does not impact antibiotic prescribing.
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