Geographic Variation in Pneumonia and Influenza in Long-Term Care Facilities: A National Study

Elliott Bosco; Andrew R Zullo; Kevin W McConeghy; Patience Moyo; Robertus van Aalst; Ayman Chit; Kevin M Mwenda; Catherine A Panozzo; Vincent Mor; Stefan Gravenstein

doi:10.1093/cid/ciaa081

Geographic Variation in Pneumonia and Influenza in Long-Term Care Facilities: A National Study

Clin Infect Dis. 2020 Nov 5;71(8):e202-e205. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa081.

Authors

Elliott Bosco^{1

2}, Andrew R Zullo^{1

2

3

4}, Kevin W McConeghy^{1

2

4}, Patience Moyo^{1

2}, Robertus van Aalst^{5

6}, Ayman Chit^{5

7}, Kevin M Mwenda⁸, Catherine A Panozzo⁹, Vincent Mor^{1

2

4}, Stefan Gravenstein^{1

2

4

10}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Services, Policy, and Practice, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
² Center for Gerontology and Healthcare Research, School of Public Health, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
³ Department of Epidemiology, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
⁴ Center of Innovation in Long-Term Services and Supports, Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
⁵ Sanofi Pasteur, Swiftwater, Pennsylvania, USA.
⁶ Department of Health Sciences, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
⁷ Leslie Dan School of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁸ Spatial Structures in the Social Sciences (S4), Population Studies and Training Center (PSTC), Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
⁹ Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.

Abstract

There is large county-level geographic variation in pneumonia and influenza hospitalizations among short-stay and long-stay long-term care facility residents in the United States. Long-term care facilities in counties in the Southern and Midwestern regions had the highest rates of pneumonia and influenza from 2013 to 2015. Future research should identify reasons for these geographic differences.

Keywords: Medicare; influenza; long-term care; pneumonia; spatial analysis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Health Facilities
Humans
Influenza, Human* / epidemiology
Long-Term Care
Pneumonia* / epidemiology
Skilled Nursing Facilities
United States / epidemiology