INFECTIONS IN A PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALIZATION UNIT

Abstract

Introduction: Infections in medical and surgical wards have been subject of several studies in recent years. However, data on psychiatric admissions are scarce. The objective of this work is to describe and analyze the infections that occurred in an acute hospitalization, in a psychiatric service of a public hospital. Material and methods: A retrospective study was made with all patients admitted to the psychiatric service from January 2017 to September 2018. Results: Of the 826 hospitalizations, 84 patients were diagnosed with infectious diseases, corresponding to 10.17%. The most frequent infection was the urinary tract followed by the respiratory tract. The patient's age and number of days of hospitalization were not statistically significantly with the fact of the patient suffer from an infection. The syndromic diagnosis of agitation during hospitalization was related to the fact that a patient infected. Patients with organic mental disorders had more infections during hospitalization. Discussion: Infections associated with health care are one of the most frequent adverse events in patients admitted to hospitals. Hypotheses such as the neuroinflammatory theory of dementias and the risk of infection with psychoactive drugs should be equated. Conclusions: 10% of patients hospitalized in a psychiatric ward suffered from infections. The patients most susceptible are those who suffer from organic mental disease and those who are hospitalized for agitation. It is important to adopt effective, low-cost prevention and control measures for infection, such as hand washing.