Cell-mediated immunity of healthy adult Nova Scotians in various age groups compared with nursing home and hospitalized senior citizens

Abstract

We used the Multitest CMI to define the delayed-type hypersensitivity response (DTH) of 149 healthy adult Nova Scotians (49 male and 100 female subjects, ranging in age from 25 to 82 years) and to define and compare the response of the healthy senior citizens (66 to 82 years old) with 79 self-sufficient senior citizens in a nursing home, 25 senior citizens in a nursing home but not self-sufficient, and 15 senior citizens hospitalized in an acute care hospital. The DTH response decreased with increasing age and with increasing dependency in a nursing home. Thus, 1.5%, 9.5%, 17.9%, 41.8%, 60%, and 40%, respectively, of the subjects in the groups listed above were anergic. For the healthy subjects, age and sex were significant factors in predicting a positive response to the skin test antigens. Use of a logistic model revealed that for male subjects, the probability of a positive response was Ln ( p 1 − p ) = 1.72 − 0.038 (age), whereas for female subjects, it was Ln ( p 1 − p ) 0.59 – 0.0213 (age). When this model was applied to the responses of senior citizens, those living at home had a significantly greater response than did those in nursing homes. Furthermore, those self-sufficient while they were living in a nursing home had a significantly greater response than those who were not self-sufficient.