title: Implementation of clinical practice guidelines for ventilator-associated pneumonia: a multicenter prospective study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Ventilator-associated pneumonia is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients. Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of ventilator-associated pneumonia may improve outcomes, but optimal methods to ensure implementation of guidelines in the intensive care unit are unclear. Hence, we determined the effect of educational sessions augmented with reminders, and led by local opinion leaders, as strategies to implement evidence-based ventilator-associated pneumonia guidelines on guideline concordance and ventilator-associated pneumonia rates.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two-year prospective, multicenter, time-series study conducted between June 2007 and December 2009.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eleven ICUs (ten in Canada, one in the United States); five academic and six community ICUs.
  
  
  METHODS
  At each site, 30 adult patients mechanically ventilated >48 hrs were enrolled during four data collection periods (baseline, 6, 15, and 24 months).
  
  
  METHODS
  Guideline recommendations for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of ventilator-associated pneumonia were implemented using a multifaceted intervention (education, reminders, local opinion leaders, and implementation teams) directed toward the entire multidisciplinary ICU team. Clinician exposure to the intervention was assessed at 6, 15, and 24 months after the introduction of this intervention.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The main outcome measure was aggregate concordance with the 14 ventilator-associated pneumonia guideline recommendations. One thousand three hundred twenty patients were enrolled (330 in each study period). Clinician exposure to the multifaceted intervention was high and increased during the study: 86.7%, 93.3%, 95.8%, (p < .001), as did aggregate concordance (mean [SD]): 50.7% (6.1), 54.4% (7.1), 56.2% (5.9), 58.7% (6.7) (p = .007). Over the study period, ventilator-associated pneumonia rates decreased (events/330 patients): 47 (14.2%), 34 (10.3%), 38 (11.5%), 29 (8.8%) (p = .03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A 2-yr multifaceted intervention to enhance ventilator-associated pneumonia guideline uptake was associated with a significant increase in guideline concordance and a reduction in ventilator-associated pneumonia rates.
authors.affiliation: Sunnybrook Research Institute, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center and Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. taz.sinuff@sunnybrook.ca
authors.forename: Tasnim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sinuff
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Muscedere
authors.forename: Deborah J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: Peter M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Dodek
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Sean P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Keenan
authors.forename: Gordon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Marilyn T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Haupt
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miletin
authors.forename: Redouane
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bouali
authors.forename: Xuran
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Andrew G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Day
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Overvelde
authors.forename: Daren K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Heyland
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D053717:Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011446:Prospective Studies; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical; D014481:United States