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An Intervention to Decrease Catheter-Related Bloodstream Infections in the ICU
The new england journal of medicine
established in 1812 december 28, 2006 vol. 355 no. 26
Background
Catheter-related bloodstream infections occurring in the intensive care unit (ICU)
are common, costly, and potentially lethal.
Methods
We conducted a collaborative cohort study predominantly in ICUs in Michigan. An
evidence-based intervention was used to reduce the incidence of catheter-related
bloodstream infections. Multilevel Poisson regression modeling was used to com-
pare infection rates before, during, and up to 18 months after implementation of
the study intervention. Rates of infection per 1000 catheter-days were measured at
3-month intervals, according to the guidelines of the National Nosocomial Infections
Surveillance System.
Results
A total of 108 ICUs agreed to participate in the study, and 103 reported data. The
analysis included 1981 ICU-months of data and 375,757 catheter-days. The median
rate of catheter-related bloodstream infection per 1000 catheter-days decreased
from 2.7 infections at baseline to 0 at 3 months after implementation of the study
intervention (P≤0.002), and the mean rate per 1000 catheter-days decreased from
7.7 at baseline to 1.4 at 16 to 18 months of follow-up (P |
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