The efficacy oe infection surveillance and control programs in preventing nosocomial infections in US hospitals

Robert W. Haley, David H. Culver, John W. White, W. Meade Morgan, T. Grace Emori, Van P. Munn, Thomas M. Hooton

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1612 Scopus citations

Abstract

In a representative sample of US general hospitals, the authors found that the establishment of intensive infection surveillance and control programs was strongly associated with reductions in rates of nosocomial urinary tract infection, surgical wound infection, pneumonia, and bacteremia between 1970 and 1975-1976, after controlling for other characteristics of the hospitals and their patients. Essential components of effective programs included conducting organized surveillance and control activities and having a trained, effectual infection control physician, an infection control nurse per 250 beds, and a system for reporting infection rates to practicing surgeons. Programs with these components reduced their hospitals' infection rates by 32%. Since relatively few hospitals had very effective programs, however, only 6% of the nation's approximately 2 million nosocomial infections were being prevented in the mid-1970s, leaving another 26% to be prevented by universal adoption of these programs. Among hospitals without effective programs, the overall infection rate increased by 18% from 1970 to 1976.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)182-205
Number of pages24
JournalAmerican Journal of Epidemiology
Volume121
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1985

Keywords

  • Cost control
  • Costs and cost analysis
  • Cross infection
  • Evaluation studies
  • Health services research
  • Health surveys
  • Hospitals

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Epidemiology

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