Prevalence and Significance Assignment
Prevalence and Significance Assignment
Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) are a worldwide problem and they account for 40 percent of all nosocomial infections (Babich et al, 2017). This is supported by Letica-Kriegel et al (2019) who explain that CAUTIs are among the most common hospital-acquired infections within the US. Babich et al (2017) state that in the US more than one million cases of CAUTIs are reported annually. 70%-80% of the urinary tract infections result from indwelling urinary catheter. 97% of patients in ICU end up acquiring CAUTI. According to about 12%-16% of the hospitalized adult patients have indwelling urinary catheters, and every day the catheter remains the risk of the patient getting a CAUTI increased by 3%–7% (Safdar et al, 2017).Prevalence and Significance Assignment
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In older adult patients, long-term use of indwelling catheters is among the leading causes of infections. Some serious complications associated with CAUTIs include endocarditis and sepsis, and CAUTIs are attributed to more than 13,000 deaths annually. Bacteremia also occurs in about 1-4% of patients with chronic indwelling catheters (Letica-Kriegel et al, 2019).
Significance
The duration of indwelling urinary catheter has been shown to be a major risk factor for CAUTIs. CAUTIs continue being among the most common nosocomial infections and lead to significant care burden, increased health cost, patient distress, discomfort, embarrassment, pain, and reduced quality of life (Letica-Kriegel et al, 2019). The duration of catheterization significantly impacts the risk of a patient acquiring a CAUTI where the longer the duration the patient has the indwelling urinary catheter, the higher the risk of the patient getting CAUTI (Al-hazmi, 2015). Therefore, this indicates the significance of this study in order to find out if reducing the urinary catheterization can help in preventing CAUTIs.
In addition, urinary tracts have been shown to lead to significant consumption of antibiotics in healthcare organizations. The presence of urinary catheters has also been shown to trigger the prescription of antibiotics for patients with fever and those thought to be at risk of sepsis (Letica-Kriegel et al, 2019). Because the duration the patient has an indwelling urinary catheter is associated with increased risk of CAUTI, it is important for the healthcare providers to try to reduce the use of urinary catheters and also reduce the duration of use of urinary catheters within all patients, especially patients at an increased risk for CAUTI or mortality due to use of catheter, such as females, the elderly, as well as patients who are immunocompromised (Al-hazmi, 2015 & Letica-Kriegel et al, 2019). Accordingly, this justifies the significance of this study in order to establish if limiting duration of urinary catheterization compared to the prophylactic use of systemic antibiotics would help in preventing catheter-associated urinary tract infections.Prevalence and Significance Assignment
References
Al-hazmi H. (2015). Role of the duration of catheterization and length of hospital stay on the rate of catheter-related hospital-acquired urinary tract infections. Research and Reports in Urology. 2015(7), 41–47.
Babich T, Oren Z, Elbaz M, Haim B, Paul M, Leibovici L & Avni T. (2017). Empirical Antibiotic Treatment Does Not Improve Outcomes in Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection: Prospective Cohort Study. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 65 (1).
Letica-Kriegel A, Hojjat S, David V, Brett Y, Green R, Yoko F, Calfee D & Perotte R. (2019). Identifying the risk factors for catheter-associated urinary tract infections: a large cross-sectional study of six hospitals. BMJ Open. 9(2).
Safdar N, Codispoti N, Purvis S & Knobloch M. (2016). Patient perspectives on indwelling urinary catheter use in the hospital. Am J Infect Control. 44(3), e23–e24.
Prevalence and Significance Assignment
