Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T19:12:08.446Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Downstream Impact of Urine Cultures Ordered without Indication at Two Acute Care Teaching Hospitals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Jerome A. Leis*
Affiliation:
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Wayne L. Gold
Affiliation:
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nick Daneman
Affiliation:
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Kaveh Shojania
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and, University of Toronto Centre for Patient Safety Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Allison McGeer
Affiliation:
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Department of Microbiology, University Health Network, /Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
*
200 Elizabeth Street, 13EN-213, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2C4, Canada (jerome.leis@mail.utoronto.ca)

Extract

Antimicrobial therapy for asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) is recommended for pregnant patients and those undergoing genitourinary procedures. In other populations, treatment has not been demonstrated to confer benefit and is associated with adverse drug reactions, selection for infection with increasingly drug-resistant bacteria, and Clostridium difficile infection. We undertook a prospective audit of urine culture ordering practices among medical and surgical inpatients at 2 acute care teaching hospitals to identify the proportion of urine cultures ordered without clinical indication that lead to antimicrobial therapy for ASB.

During August and September 2012, consecutive urine cultures from nonpregnant ward patients were identified within 24 hours of culture ordering. Each patient was interviewed by the study team to determine the presence of urinary tract infection (UTI) using standard surveillance criteria. Non-catheterized patients met clinical indications for UTI if they had fever (temperature >38°C) without another explanation or at least 1 urinary symptom (dysuria, urgency, frequency, costovertebral angle tenderness, or suprapubic pain or tenderness). Catheterized patients met clinical indications for UTI if they had fever, suprapubic pain, or costovertebral angle tenderness. Other reasons for ordering cultures were documented on the basis of care provider interviews before culture results were known. Culture results and antimicrobial prescriptions were documented 72 hours later. The study was approved by the research ethics boards of Mount Sinai Hospital (472 beds) and University Health Network (408 beds; Toronto General Hospital site).

Type
Research Briefs
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2013

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Nicolle, LE, Bradley, S, Colgan, R, et al.Infectious Diseases Society of America guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria in adults. Clin Infect Dis 2005;40(5):643654.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Nicolle, L, Mayhew, J, Bryan, L. Prospective randomized comparison of therapy and no therapy for asymptomatic bacteriuria in institutionalized elderly women. Am J Med 1987;83:2733.Google Scholar
3.Cai, T, Mazzoli, S, Mondaini, N, et al.The role of asymptomatic bacteriuria in young women with recurrent urinary tract infections: to treat or not to treat? Clin Infect Dis 2012;55(6):771777.Google Scholar
4.Rotjanapan, P, Dosa, D, Thomas, KS. Potentially inappropriate treatment of urinary tract infections in two Rhode island nursing homes. Arch Intern Med 2011;171(5):438443.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5.Lin, E, Bhusal, Y, Horwitz, D, Shelburne, SA, Trautner, BW. Over-treatment of enterococcal bacteriuria. Arch Intern Med 2012;172(1):3338.Google Scholar
6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; National Healthcare Safety Network. Surveillance definition of healthcare-associated infection and criteria for specific types of infections in the acute care setting, http://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/pdfs/pscmanual/17pscnosinfdef_current.pdf. 2013. Accessed April 2013.Google Scholar
7.Linares, LA, Thornton, DJ, Strymish, J, Baker, E, Gupta, K. Electronic memorandum decreases unnecessary antimicrobial use for asymptomatic bacteriuria and culture-negative pyuria. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2011;32(7):644648.Google Scholar
8.Bonnal, C, Baune, B, Mion, M, et al.Bacteriuria in a geriatric hospital: impact of an antibiotic improvement program. J Am Med Dir Assoc 2008;9(8):605609.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9.Loeb, M, Brazil, K, Lohfeld, L, et al.Effect of a multifaceted intervention on number of antimicrobial prescriptions for suspected urinary tract infections in residents of nursing homes: cluster randomized controlled trial. BMJ 2005;331(7518):669.Google Scholar