Older Hospitalized Adults Are Infrequently Tested for Influenza

A study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society suggests adults aged 65 years and older who are hospitalized with fever or respiratory symptoms during flu seasons are less likely to undergo a provider-ordered flu test than younger persons, reports EurekAlert . Included in the study were 1,422 adults hospitalized with symptoms of acute respiratory illness or non-localizing fever at four hospitals in Tennessee during the flu seasons from November 2006 to April 2012. In general, 28 percent of subjects had provider-ordered flu testing, and those who were tested were younger than those not tested, and more likely to have flu-like illness. Flu-like illness was found to decline with increasing age to 63 percent for those 18-49 years old, 60 percent for those 50-64 years old, and 48 percent for those 65 years old. The presence of flu-like illness and younger age were independent predictors of provider-ordered testing across all participants. Among the 399 subjects with flu verified by these laboratory tests, flu-like illness was the only significant predictor of provider-ordered testing. Nearly 50 percent of participants with confirmed influenza did not have testing ordered by their providers.