Tuberculin reactivity is low among residents of a Connecticut nursing home.

Of 131 residents of a suburban New England intermediate and skilled nursing facility, 126 agreed to be evaluated by two-stage administration of purified protein derivative (5TU) for tuberculin reactivity. Only eight patients (6.4%) had a positive reaction, considerably fewer than reported by most previous studies. There were no statistically significant differences between reactors and nonreactors based in age, gender, or length of stay in the facility. There was a tendency toward an association of presence of risk factors and a positive response to tuberculin skin testing, but this did not achieve statistical significance (P = 0.063).