title: Association of Patient Care with Ventilator-Associated Conditions in Critically Ill Patients: Risk Factor Analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Ventilator-associated conditions (VACs), for which new surveillance definitions and methods were issued by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are respiratory complications occurring in conjunction with the use of invasive mechanical ventilation and are related to adverse outcomes in critically ill patients. However, to date, risk factors for VACs have not been adequately established, leading to a need for developing a better understanding of the risks. The objective of this study was to explore care-related risk factors as a process indicator and provide valuable information pertaining to VAC preventive measures.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective, single-center, cohort study was conducted in the intensive-care unit (ICU) of a university hospital in Japan. Patient data were automatically sampled using a computerized medical records system and retrospectively analyzed. Management and care-related, but not host-related, factors were exhaustively analyzed using multivariate analysis for risks of VACs. VAC correlation to mortality was also investigated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 3122 patients admitted in the ICU, 303 ventilated patients meeting CDC-specified eligibility criteria were included in the analysis. Thirty-seven VACs (12.2%) were found with a corresponding rate of 12.1 per 1000 ventilator days. Multivariate analysis revealed four variables related to patient care as risk factors for VACs: absence of intensivist participation in management of ventilated patients [adjusted HR (AHR): 7.325, P < 0.001)], using relatively higher driving pressure (AHR: 1.216, P < 0.001), development of edema (AHR: 2.145, P = 0.037), and a larger body weight increase (AHR: 0.058, P = 0.005). Furthermore, this research confirmed mortality differences in patients with VACs and statistically derived risks compared with those without VACs (HR: 2.623, P = 0.008).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Four risk factors related to patient care were clearly identified to be the key factors for VAC preventive measures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency and Critical Care Center, Mie University Hospital, Tsu, Mie, Japan.
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakahashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.affiliation: Clinical Research Support Center, Mie University Hospital, Tsu, Mie, Japan.
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ogura
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Mie University School of Medicine, Tsu, Mie, Japan.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency and Critical Care Center, Mie University Hospital, Tsu, Mie, Japan.
authors.forename: Kei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency and Critical Care Center, Mie University Hospital, Tsu, Mie, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Imai
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016638:Critical Illness; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D055397:Ventilator-Induced Lung Injury / Q000150:complications*