title: Hospital-acquired infections in Belgian acute-care hospitals: an estimation of their global impact on mortality, length of stay and healthcare costs.
abstract: Assessing the overall burden of disease which can be attributed to hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) remains a challenge. A matched cohort study was performed to estimate excess mortality, length of stay and costs attributable to HAIs in Belgian acute-care hospitals, using six matching factors (hospital, diagnosis-related group, age, ward, Charlson score, estimated length of stay prior to infection). Information was combined from different sources on the epidemiology and burden of HAIs to estimate the impact at national level. The total number of patients affected by a HAI each year was 125 000 (per 10·9 million inhabitants). The excess mortality was 2·8% and excess length of stay was 7·3 days, corresponding to a public healthcare cost of €290 million. A large burden was observed outside the intensive-care unit setting (87% of patients infected and extra costs, 73% of excess deaths).
authors.affiliation: Belgian Health Care Knowledge Centre, Boulevard du Jardin Botanique, Brussels, Belgium. france.vrijens@kce.fgov.be
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vrijens
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hulstaert
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Devriese
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: van de Sande
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality*; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*