Current mandated self-reported compliance and audit measures correlate poorly with decreased ventilator-associated pneumonia or catheter-related bloodstream infection rates, according to a study published in JAMA Surgery.
Researchers conducted a multiyear retrospective review of aggregated data from all patients admitted to 15 intensive care units in a Veterans Affairs hospital setting from 2009 to 2011.
The study found while ventilator-associated pneumonia decreased from 2.50 to 1.60 infections per 1,000 ventilator days during the study period, the rate of pneumonia was not correlated with self-reported compliance overall.
Also, catheter-related bloodstream infections decreased from 2.38 to 0.73 infections per 1,000 catheter days. However, the rate of catheter infection was not correlated with self-reported compliance overall.
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