A Multicenter Intervention to Prevent Catheter-Associated Bloodstream Infections

Abstract

Background.Education-based interventions can reduce the incidence of catheter-associated bloodstream infection. The generalizability of findings from single-center studies is limited.Objective.To assess the effect of a multicenter intervention to prevent catheter-associated bloodstream infections.Design.An observational study with a planned intervention.Setting.Twelve intensive care units and 1 bone marrow transplantation unit at 6 academic medical centers.Patients.Patients admitted during the study period.Intervention.Updates of written policies, distribution of a 9-page self-study module with accompanying pretest and posttest, didactic lectures, and incorporation into practice of evidence-based guidelines regarding central venous catheter (CVC) insertion and care.Measurements.Standard data collection tools and definitions were used to measure the process of care (ie, the proportion of non-tunneled catheters inserted into the femoral vein and the condition of the CVC insertion site dressing for both tunneled and nontunneled catheters) and the incidence of catheter-associated bloodstream infection.Results.Between the preintervention period and the postintervention period, the percentage of CVCs inserted into the femoral vein decreased from 12.9% to 9.4% (relative ratio, 0.73; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.61-0.88); the total proportion of catheter insertion site dressings properly dated increased from 26.6% to 34.4% (relative ratio, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.17-1.42), and the overall rate of catheter-associated bloodstream infections decreased from 11.2 to 8.9 infections per 1,000 catheter-days (relative rate, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.67-0.93). The effect of the intervention varied among individual units.Conclusions.An education-based intervention that uses evidence-based practices can be successfully implemented in a diverse group of medical and surgical units and reduce catheter-associated bloodstream infection rates.