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Murine Oropharyngeal Aspiration Model of Ventilator-associated and Hospital-acquired Bacterial Pneumonia
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Published on: June 28, 2018

Underestimating the impact of ventilator-associated pneumonia by use of surveillance data

Marci Drees1, Sherry Hausman, Andrea Rogers

  • 1Christiana Care Health System, Wilmington, Delaware, USA. mdrees@christianacare.org

Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology
|April 21, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) rates were overestimated when using administrative coding data compared to surveillance data in most intensive care units. Improving documentation may reduce, but not eliminate, this discrepancy.

Area of Science:

  • Healthcare quality measurement
  • Infection control
  • Health informatics

Background:

  • Accurate measurement of healthcare-associated infections is crucial for quality assessment.
  • Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a significant intensive care unit (ICU) complication.
  • Discrepancies between surveillance and administrative data can impact quality reporting.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) rates derived from surveillance data versus administrative coding data.
  • To identify the extent of overestimation of VAP rates using coding data.
  • To inform strategies for improving data accuracy in ICUs.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective analysis of patient data from intensive care units (ICUs).
  • Calculation of VAP incidence rates using both clinical surveillance data and administrative coding data.
  • Statistical comparison of VAP rates between the two data sources across multiple ICUs.

Main Results:

  • Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) rates derived from coding data were significantly overestimated in 4 out of 5 ICUs compared to surveillance data.
  • The magnitude of overestimation varied across different intensive care units.
  • A notable discrepancy exists between infection rates captured by direct surveillance and those recorded in administrative databases.

Conclusions:

  • Administrative coding data significantly overestimates ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) rates in most ICUs.
  • Improving clinical documentation and coding practices is necessary but may not fully resolve the observed data discrepancies.
  • Reliance solely on coding data for VAP surveillance may lead to inaccurate quality assessments.

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