[A matched case-control study on direct economic costs of four kinds of nosocomial infections].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the direct economic costs of four major kinds of nosocomial infections such as nosocomial pneumonia, urinary tract infection, deep surgical wound infection and intracranial infection.


METHODS
A matched case-control study was conducted among 95 pairs of hospitalized patients to investigate the direct economic costs of nosocomial infections.


RESULTS
The average medical cost for patients in the case group was 38 741 RMB Yuan, 20 365 Yuan more than that in the control group patients (P < 0.0001). The largest part of extra costs was found in drug expenses, taking up 62.07%, while other extra costs such as non-drug therapies, blood transmission and laboratory examinations, accounted for 10.32%, 7.40% and 5.72% respectively. Extra economic burden caused by nosocomial infections varied in different degrees with different departments, with the heaviest found in the department of tumourology and hematology at an average extra cost of 34 944 Yuan. The average extra charges in case group caused by nosocomial pneumonia, urinary tract infection, deep surgical wound infection and intracranial infection were 31 940 Yuan, 7 436 Yuan, 17 332 Yuan and 17 349 Yuan respectively. The average length of hospital stay was 50.57 days in case group and 25.22 days in control group, showing a 25.53 extra days (P < 0.0001) of hospitalization due to nosocomial infections.


CONCLUSIONS
Nosocomial infections had significantly added to the economic burden of managing the underlying diseases, led to prolonged hospitalization of the patients and lowered the turnover rate of hospital bed. There is a need to call for better infection control program, which would bring tremendous social and economic profits.
Zhou
Q
Q
Department of Hospital Infection Control, Beijing Hospital, Beijing 100730, China.
Chu
D
D
Gao
X
X
D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay