A retrospective analysis of clinical acuity markers on hospital length of stay in patients with febrile neutropenia

Abstract

Objective The primary objective of this study was to identify factors that have predictive value in determining total hospital length of stay in patients with febrile neutropenia, particularly time to first antibiotic dose. Methods This study was a retrospective chart review analyzing patients admitted to a 443 bed tertiary county teaching hospital from 1 November 2010 through 1 November 2015. Patients were eligible for enrollment into the study if they met Infectious Diseases Society of America accepted criteria for febrile neutropenia. Results Ninety-three patients were included for analysis. Time to first antibiotic dose, first empirically appropriate antibiotic dose, and time to first isolate-appropriate antibiotic did not show a significant correlation to total hospital length of stay (p = 0.71, p = 0.342, and p = 0.77, respectively). Subject’s Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer and Simplified Acute Physiology II scores were significantly correlated with hospital lengths of stay (p = 0.0052, rs = −0.243 and p = 0.0001, rs = 0.344, respectively). Higher median (interquartile ranges) Simplified Acute Physiology II scores were also associated with hospital mortality [dead = 46 (34.8–51.7) vs. alive = 34 (28–43.3), p = 0.0173]. Conclusions Measures of patient acuity, such as the Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer and Simplified Acute Physiology II scores, did show a correlation to clinical outcomes in patients with febrile neutropenia. Timing of initial antibiotics between 2.32 and 6.27 hours after presentation in patients with febrile neutropenia did not correlate with clinical outcomes.