Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection Does Changing the Definition Change Quality?

Abstract

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently narrowed its definition of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) to exclude asymptomatic bacteriuria. Although CAUTI rates decreased after the definition was changed, rates of related measures remained relatively stagnant, which indicates that longitudinal measurements of CAUTI may be misleading and that the change in definition did not itself impact care.