A case control study of environmental and occupational exposures associated with methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage in patients admitted to a rural tertiary care hospital in a high density swine region

Table 1 Characteristics of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriers and matched controls hospitalized at Vidant Medical Center in eastern North Carolina, 2011

	No. (%)
Characteristics	Controls (n = 119)		Cases (n = 117)
Female	68	57.1	67	57.3
Age, years
18-29	29	24.4	24	20.5
30-39	15	12.6	16	13.7
40-49	17	14.3	22	18.8
50-59	40	33.6	37	31.6
60-65	18	15.1	18	15.4
Non-white race	61	51.3	63	53.9
Less than high school or General Educational Development diploma	13	10.9	24	20.5
Hospitalized within the past year	70	58.8	71	60.7
First-listed diagnosis for the current hospitalization
Injury and poisoning^a	9	7.6	6	5.1
Factors influencing health status and contact with health professionals^b	10	8.4	2	1.7
Symptoms, signs, and ill-defined conditions^c	15	12.6	20	17.1
Live in a block group with any permitted swine	47	39.5	58	49.6
Live on a farm with animals	4	3.4	5	4.3

^aFirst-listed diagnosis for the current hospitalization corresponded to International Disease Classification, 9^th edition codes 800-999.
^bFirst-listed diagnosis for the current hospitalization corresponded to International Disease Classification, 9^th edition codesV01-V89.
^cFirst-listed diagnosis for the current hospitalization corresponded to International Disease Classification, 9^th edition codes 780-799.

ISSN: 1476-069X