An agent-based model to assess the impact of shared staff and occupancy rate on infectious disease burden in nursing homes
Abstract Infectious diseases can propagate between nursing homes through asymptomatic staff members who are employed at multiple facilities. However, the transmission dynamics of infections, both within individual nursing homes and across facilities, has been less investigated. To fill this gap, we...
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| Language: | English |
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BMC
2025-04-01
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| Series: | BMC Infectious Diseases |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-025-10786-w |
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| author | Kiel Corkran Jose Pablo Gómez-Vázquez Arash Arjmand Miriam Nuño Majid Bani-Yaghoub |
| author_facet | Kiel Corkran Jose Pablo Gómez-Vázquez Arash Arjmand Miriam Nuño Majid Bani-Yaghoub |
| author_sort | Kiel Corkran |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Infectious diseases can propagate between nursing homes through asymptomatic staff members who are employed at multiple facilities. However, the transmission dynamics of infections, both within individual nursing homes and across facilities, has been less investigated. To fill this gap, we developed an agent-based model of two nursing homes extendible to a network of n nursing homes connected with different percentages of shared staff. Focusing on the outbreaks of COVID-19 in U.S. nursing homes, we calibrated the model according to the COVID-19 prevalence data and estimated levels of shared staff for each State. The model simulations indicate that reducing the percentage of shared staff below 5% plays a significant role in controlling the spread of infection from one nursing home to another through personal protective equipment usage, rapid testing, and vaccination. As the percentage of shared staff increases to more than 30%, these measures become less effective, and the mean prevalence of infection reaches a steady state in both nursing homes. The hazard ratios for infection and mortality indicate that nursing homes with higher occupancy rates are more significantly affected by increased staff-sharing percentages. In conclusion, the burden of infection significantly increases with greater staff sharing between nursing homes, particularly in high-occupancy facilities, where transmission dynamics are amplified due to greater resident density and staff interactions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-19105d127d02473c9e579bbafc4ec2a1 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1471-2334 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Infectious Diseases |
| spelling | doaj-art-19105d127d02473c9e579bbafc4ec2a12025-08-20T02:55:35ZengBMCBMC Infectious Diseases1471-23342025-04-0125111510.1186/s12879-025-10786-wAn agent-based model to assess the impact of shared staff and occupancy rate on infectious disease burden in nursing homesKiel Corkran0Jose Pablo Gómez-Vázquez1Arash Arjmand2Miriam Nuño3Majid Bani-Yaghoub4Division of Computing, Analytics and Mathematics, School of Science and Engineering, University of Missouri-Kansas CityDepartment of Veterinary Medicine and Epidemiology, University of California DavisDivision of Computing, Analytics and Mathematics, School of Science and Engineering, University of Missouri-Kansas CityDepartment of Public Health Sciences, University of California DavisDivision of Computing, Analytics and Mathematics, School of Science and Engineering, University of Missouri-Kansas CityAbstract Infectious diseases can propagate between nursing homes through asymptomatic staff members who are employed at multiple facilities. However, the transmission dynamics of infections, both within individual nursing homes and across facilities, has been less investigated. To fill this gap, we developed an agent-based model of two nursing homes extendible to a network of n nursing homes connected with different percentages of shared staff. Focusing on the outbreaks of COVID-19 in U.S. nursing homes, we calibrated the model according to the COVID-19 prevalence data and estimated levels of shared staff for each State. The model simulations indicate that reducing the percentage of shared staff below 5% plays a significant role in controlling the spread of infection from one nursing home to another through personal protective equipment usage, rapid testing, and vaccination. As the percentage of shared staff increases to more than 30%, these measures become less effective, and the mean prevalence of infection reaches a steady state in both nursing homes. The hazard ratios for infection and mortality indicate that nursing homes with higher occupancy rates are more significantly affected by increased staff-sharing percentages. In conclusion, the burden of infection significantly increases with greater staff sharing between nursing homes, particularly in high-occupancy facilities, where transmission dynamics are amplified due to greater resident density and staff interactions.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-025-10786-wAgent-based modelNursing homeShared staffCOVID-19InfectionGAMA |
| spellingShingle | Kiel Corkran Jose Pablo Gómez-Vázquez Arash Arjmand Miriam Nuño Majid Bani-Yaghoub An agent-based model to assess the impact of shared staff and occupancy rate on infectious disease burden in nursing homes BMC Infectious Diseases Agent-based model Nursing home Shared staff COVID-19 Infection GAMA |
| title | An agent-based model to assess the impact of shared staff and occupancy rate on infectious disease burden in nursing homes |
| title_full | An agent-based model to assess the impact of shared staff and occupancy rate on infectious disease burden in nursing homes |
| title_fullStr | An agent-based model to assess the impact of shared staff and occupancy rate on infectious disease burden in nursing homes |
| title_full_unstemmed | An agent-based model to assess the impact of shared staff and occupancy rate on infectious disease burden in nursing homes |
| title_short | An agent-based model to assess the impact of shared staff and occupancy rate on infectious disease burden in nursing homes |
| title_sort | agent based model to assess the impact of shared staff and occupancy rate on infectious disease burden in nursing homes |
| topic | Agent-based model Nursing home Shared staff COVID-19 Infection GAMA |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-025-10786-w |
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