By Anuja Vaidya

Patients are far less likely to be infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus when hospitalized in facilities with more private patient rooms, a study shows.

The study, examined data on patients discharged from hospitals and hospital-acquired MRSA events occurring between Sept. 1, 2015, and Aug. 31, 2016.

In total, researchers analyzed data for 340 hospitals across the country and 2.67 million patient discharges. MRSA incidence within these hospitals was 386 per 100,000 inpatient discharges, and, on average, 62.73 percent of the rooms in these hospitals were private patient rooms. Learn more about the data here.

Researchers found that rates of MRSA infection were more than eight times higher at hospitals with the lowest percentage of private rooms (62 percent or less) compared to hospitals with the largest percentage of private rooms (82 percent or more).