Researchers from the Columbia University School of Nursing have found that men are at a greater risk of developing health-care related infections such as bloodstream infection (BSI) and surgical-site infection (SSI).
The study analyzed the infection rates based on genders and found that women were less likely to develop a BSI or SSI. The data for the study was collected from tertiary care hospital, a pediatric acute care hospital, and a community hospital within a large, academically affiliated hospital network in New York City. According to the results, the infection rates also differed with age alongside the gender of a person. It was found that children less than 12-years old were less likely to develop either of the disease and lower risk of BSI and SSI was also found in adults aged above 70-years old.
Researchers noted the infection rates in community-associated BSI and healthcare-associated BSI, both of which were significantly higher in men compared to women. Men were 30 percent at higher risk of community-associated BSI, and 60 percent higher in healthcare-associated BSI compared to women. Also men were 60 percent at a higher risk of SSI than in women.
"By understanding the factors that put patients at risk for infections, clinicians may be able to design targeted prevention and surveillance strategies to improve infection rates and outcomes," says Bevin Cohen, MPH, Program Director, Center for Interdisciplinary Research to Prevent Infections (CIRI) at Columbia University School of Nursing, and the lead author of the study, according to the news release.
Researchers suppose the reason for the difference in the infection rates between genders may be because of the biological differences between the men and women's skin.
"In addition to using enhanced infection risk profiles to improve infection rates, it may be sensible to conduct specialized preoperative skin decontamination procedures and postoperative wound care for men to further reduce the risk of infection," Cohen adds.
The findings of the study titled as "Gender Differences in Risk of Bloodstream and Surgical Site Infections," are published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
