Epidemiology and Health

Original Article

The prevention and response to infectious diseases in long-term care facilities in Korea: a nationwide survey: Sun Hee Na, Joong Sik Eom, Sun Bean Kim, Hyung Jin Yoon, So Yeon Yoo, Kyeong Sook Cha, Jong Rim Choi, Ji Youn Choi, Si Hyeon Han, Jin Ju Park, Tark Kim, Jacob Lee; Epidemiol Health. 2024;46:e2024084. Published online October 17, 2024; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2024084

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Abstract Summary PDF Supplementary Material: Abstract
OBJECTIVES
Long-term care facilities (LTCFs) are communal environments for patients with chronic diseases or older adults, making them particularly susceptible to significant harm during infectious disease outbreaks. Nonetheless, LTCFs have historically been subject to less stringent infection prevention and control (IPC) mandates. This study aimed to assess the current state of LTCFs and to develop an IPC system tailored for these facilities following the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
METHODS
We conducted an online survey of 11,366 LTCFs in Korea from December 30, 2022 to January 20, 2023, to evaluate the components of IPC in LTCFs. The infectious diseases targeted for IPC included COVID-19, influenza, and scabies. Additionally, we compared institution-based and home-based long-term care insurance facilities.
RESULTS
Overall, 3,537 (31.1%) LTCFs responded to the survey, comprising 1,819 (51.4%) institution-based and 1,718 (48.6%) home-based facilities. A majority (87.4%, 2,376/2,720) of these facilities experienced COVID-19 outbreaks. However, only 42.2% of home-based facilities, in contrast to 90.6% of institution-based facilities, were equipped to manage concurrent COVID-19 cases. Similarly, while 92.1% of institution-based facilities were capable of managing influenza, only 50.5% of home-based facilities could do the same. The incidence of scabies was significantly higher in institution-based facilities than in home-based ones (26.1 vs. 4.3%). Additionally, 88.7% of institution-based facilities managed scabies cases effectively, compared to only 42.1% of home-based facilities.
CONCLUSIONS
Approximately half of the LTCFs had a basic capacity to respond to infectious diseases. However, there were differences in response capabilities between institution-based facilities and home-based facilities.; Summary

Korean summary
장기요양기관을 대상으로 실태조사가 시행되었습니다. 50% 기관에서 감염병에 대한 기본 대응능력을 가지고 있었지만 시설급여기관과 재가급여기관 사이 대응능력에 차이가 있었습니다.

Key Message
A survey of long-term care facilities (LTCFs) was conducted. Fifty per cent of LTCFs had a basic capacity to respond to infectious diseases. However, there were differences in response capacity between institution-based and home-based facilities.

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