To examine the clinical outcomes and costs associated with Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia among hemodialysis-dependent patients.

Prospectively identified cohort study.

A tertiary-care university medical center in North Carolina.

Two hundred ten hemodialysis-dependent adults with end-stage renal disease hospitalized with S. aureus bacteremia.

The majority of the patients (117; 55.7%) underwent dialysis via tunneled catheters, and 29.5% (62) underwent dialysis via synthetic arteriovenous fistulas. Vascular access was the suspected source of bacteremia in 185 patients (88.1%). Complications occurred in 31.0% (65), and the overall 12-week mortality rate was 19.0% (40). The mean cost of treating S. aureus bacteremia, including readmissions and outpatient costs, was $24,034 per episode. The mean initial hospitalization cost was significantly greater for patients with complicated versus uncomplicated S. aureus bacteremia ($32,462 vs $17,011; P= .002).

Interventions to decrease the rate of S. aureus bacteremia are needed in this high-risk, hemodialysis-dependent population (Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2005;26:534-539).

Comorbid conditions have complicated previous analyses of the consequences of methicillin resistance for costs and outcomes of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. We compared costs and outcomes of methicillin resistance in patients with S. aureus bacteremia and a single chronic condition.

We conducted a prospective cohort study of hemodialysis-dependent patients with end-stage renal disease and S. aureus bacteremia hospitalized between July 1996 and August 2001. We used propensity scores to reduce bias when comparing patients with methicillin-resistant (MRSA) and methicillin-susceptible (MSSA) S. aureus bacteremia. Outcome measures were resource use, direct medical costs, and clinical outcomes at 12 weeks after initial hospitalization.

Fifty-four patients (37.8%) had MRSA and 89 patients (62.2%) had MSSA. Compared with patients with MSSA bacteremia, patients with MRSA bacteremia were more likely to have acquired the infection while hospitalized for another condition (27.8% vs 12.4%; P = .02). To attribute all inpatient costs to S. aureus bacteremia, we limited the analysis to 105 patients admitted for suspected S. aureus bacteremia from a community setting. Adjusted costs were higher for MRSA bacteremia for the initial hospitalization ($21,251 vs $13,978; P = .012) and after 12 weeks ($25,518 vs $17,354; P = .015). At 12 weeks, patients with MRSA bacteremia were more likely to die (adjusted odds ratio, 5.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.5 to 18.7) than were patients with MSSA bacteremia.

Community-dwelling, hemodialysis-dependent patients hospitalized with MRSA bacteremia face a higher mortality risk, longer hospital stays, and higher inpatient costs than do patients with MSSA bacteremia.