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Private ICUs decreased hospital-acquired infection rates

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Converting hospital intensive care units to private rooms was associated with a decreased rate for infections in hospitalized patients, according to findings published in Archives of Internal Medicine.

According to background information in the study, health care-associated infections occur in about 30% of patients in intensive care units (ICUs) and are associated with significant morbidity and mortality.

“In ICU patients, these infections are associated with an increased length of stay of 8 to 9 days, and the resulting additional cost from excess stay alone is estimated to be $3.5 billion per year in the United States,” the researchers wrote.

Therefore, Dana Y. Teltsch, MSc, a PhD candidate, and colleagues from McGill University in Montreal, compared the rates for infectious organisms in an ICU before and after converting multi-bed rooms to single rooms. For a comparison model, infection rates were assessed in the ICU of a nearby hospital that consisted of both multi-bed and single rooms.

The statistical model adjusted for background time trends common to both hospitals. The study included 19,343 ICU admissions between 2000 and 2005.

The rate for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) decreased by 47%; the rate for Clostridium difficile infection decreased by 43% and yeast acquisition decreased by 51% after converting to private rooms. Further, the combined adjusted rate for C. difficile, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus and MRSA decreased by 54%.

Moreover, the average length of stay at the intervention hospital fluctuated and did not increase overall, while it steadily increased at the comparison hospital. In fact, the adjusted length of stay decreased by 10% after converting to private rooms.

“An ICU environment with private rooms may facilitate better infection control practices, therefore reducing the transmission of infectious organisms,” the researchers wrote. “Conversion to single rooms can substantially reduce the rate at which patients acquire infectious organisms while in the ICU.”

Reference:

• Teltsch DY. Arch Intern Med. 2011;171:32-38.

Disclosures: No products or companies are mentioned that would require financial disclosure.