ObjectiveTo investigate the characteristics of healthcareassociated infection(HAI) in elderly hospitalized patients, and analyze the risk factors for HAI.MethodsIncidences of HAI in elderly(elderly group) and nonelderly hospitalized patients (control) in a tertiary firstclass hospital were investigated, the underlying diseases, infection sites, department distribution and so on between two groups of patients were compared.ResultsThe incidence of HAI in elderly group was higher than that in control group（3.38% vs 1.45%, P＜0.05）；the proportions of hypertension and diabetes mellitus in elderly group was higher than control group, while cerebrovascular disease was lower than control group. The proportion of lower respiratory tract infection, urinary system infection and antimicrobialassociated diarrheal in the elderly were higher than control group（41.62% vs 28.00%, 15.44% vs 12.02%, 6.03% vs 3.15%, respectively）. The incidence of catheterassociated urinary tract infection in the elderly group was higher than that in control group（6.85‰ vs 3.95‰, RR95%CI=1.209-2.485, P＜0.05）. The proportion of HAI in the elderly group in internal medicine departments was higher than that in control group（52.71% vs 40.03%），while in intensive care unit was lower than control group(33.52% vs 41.19%）.ConclusionThe characteristics of HAI in elderly patients are closely related to their demographic characteristics, early prevention of HAI in key sites should be carried out according to its characteristics.