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Incidence of hospital-acquired infection and length of hospital stay

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Abstract

Two different measures of hospital-acquired infection (HAI), risk per discharge and incidence rate, were used to analyse the incidence of 225 primary HAIs detected in 3,090 patients in an 11-month survey. Longer hospital stay was associated with a greater risk of developing HAI, but the strength of the association was different for the two measures used. Day-specific incidence rates were found to vary, with a peak between the 14th and 19th days of hospitalisation. Similar patterns were observed when the data were stratified by age, sex and operation. Methods for calculating HAI should control for the length of hospital stay. Further studies are required to clarify the mechanisms that affect the temporal pattern of incidence of HAI observed with length of hospitalisation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Communicable Disease Epidemiology Unit, Department of Epidemiology and Population Sciences, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, WC1E 7HT, London, UK

    B. H. Tess, L. C. Rodrigues & M. B. Wagner

  2. Division of Hospital Infection, Central Public Health Laboratory, 61 Colindale Avenue, NW9 5HT, London, UK

    H. M. Glenister

  3. East Anglian Regional Health Authority, Union Lane, Chesterton, CB4 1RF, Cambridge, UK

    H. M. Glenister

Authors
  1. B. H. Tess
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  2. H. M. Glenister
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  3. L. C. Rodrigues
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  4. M. B. Wagner
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Tess, B.H., Glenister, H.M., Rodrigues, L.C. et al. Incidence of hospital-acquired infection and length of hospital stay. Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 12, 81–86 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01967579

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