To investigate the source and distribution of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO) infection in non-intensive care unit (ICU), and to provide basis for accurate prevention and control measures of MDRO.

Total of 1 116 MDRO strains isolated from 802 patients with MDRO infection in the non-ICU departments of Jiangsu Provincial people’s Hospital from October 2017 to September 2019 were selected. According to the source, MDRO were divided into two types: out-of-hospital infection (transferred from outside hospital and community acquired) and nosocomial infection (transferred from our hospital and acquired from departments of our hospital).

The main MDRO in non-ICU departments were carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) (384/1 116, 34.41%) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (331/1 116, 29.66%). There were significant differences in the composition of MDRO infection among different departments (χ² = 185.687, P < 0.001). The departments with the most common MDRO infection were geriatrics (147/1 116, 13.17%), neurosurgery (112/1 116, 10.04%) and rehabilitation medicine (95/1 116, 8.51%). The detection rates of CRE, MRSA, carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) and carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA) were 10.69% (704/6 584), 43.83% (554/1 264), 33.72% (376/1 115) and 27.11% (475/1 752), respectively, which were significantly lower than those of departments from the whole hospital [25.35% (3 474/13 704), 51.48% (1 093/2 123), 79.15% (4 704/5 943) and 46.99% (2 051/4 365)], with significant differences (χ² = 584.309, 15.583, 960.632, 203.726; all P < 0.001). There were significant differences in the detection rates of the above four kinds of MDRO among different non-ICU departments (χ² = 190.766, 97.642, 75.078, 69.515; all P < 0.001). The most common sites of MDRO infection were lower respiratory tract (540/1 116, 48.39%), operation site (132/1 116, 11.83%) and urinary tract (123/1 116, 11.02%). There were 641 cases of out-of-hospital infection (57.44%), including out-of-hospital transfer (373/1 116, 33.42%) and community access (268/1 116, 24.01%); and 475 cases (42.56%) of nosocomial infection, including our hospital transfer (52/1 116, 4.66%) and department of our hospital access (423/1 116, 37.90%).

Nearly 2/3 of MDRO infections in non-ICU departments of our hospital are imported from outside of hospital and transferred in hospital. In addition, attention should be paid to the implementation of basic sensory control measures and early identification through the information system, and the sources and distribution of MDRO infections are different, so targeted prevention and control measures should be formulated according to their characteristics to achieve precise prevention and control.