title: Repeated prevalence surveys for monitoring effectiveness of hospital infection control.
abstract: In a 1400-bedded teaching hospital single-day prevalence surveys of hospital infection were done every six months for 3 years. The prevalence of community-acquired infection remained constant; but, after the introduction of a general infection-control policy, the prevalence of hospital-acquired infection (HAI) fell linearly from 10.5% in the second survey to 5.6% in the last. After the introduction of a specific urinary catheter care policy, the prevalence of hospital-acquired urinary tract infection (HAUTI) fell from 3.2% in the first four surveys to 2.0% in the last three. These differences persisted when the results were adjusted by logistic regression for patient risk factors, which varied between surveys: the declines for HAI and HAUTI were then 9.9% to 6.0% and 2.9% to 2.2% respectively. Infection control policies, therefore, can have substantial impact on the prevalence of HAI, and their effectiveness can readily be measured by repeated prevalence surveys.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin.
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: French
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Donnan
mesh_terms: D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006723:Hong Kong; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D008722:Methods; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014546:Urinary Catheterization / Q000592:standards; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control