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Updated: May 30, 2026
07:57
An In Vitro Bladder Model of Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection
Published on: June 24, 2025
Accuracy of a urinary catheter surveillance protocol
Allison C Burns1, Nancy J Petersen, Armandina Garza
1VA Health Services Research and Development Houston Center of Excellence, Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
American Journal of Infection Control
|August 5, 2011
Summary
Electronic health record chart review accurately captures urinary catheter data. This method reliably tracks device-days, essential for surveillance of catheter-associated urinary tract infections.
Area of Science:
- Healthcare Informatics
- Infection Control
- Clinical Data Management
Background:
- Hospitals increasingly monitor catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI).
- Accurate documentation of urinary catheter device-days is crucial for CAUTI surveillance.
- Current methods like chart review or nursing reports may lack precision.
Purpose of the Study:
- To validate electronic medical record (EMR) chart review against bedside inspection for urinary catheter data.
- To assess the accuracy of chart review for documenting urinary catheter device-days.
Main Methods:
- A 6-month comparative study on 10 hospital wards.
- Daily EMR chart review to extract urinary catheter data.
- Direct bedside verification of urinary catheter presence and type.
Main Results:
- Data from 621 patient cases were analyzed.
- Chart review and bedside inspection showed high agreement (98.4%).
- Discrepancies occurred in only 1.6% of cases, with chart review demonstrating 100% sensitivity and 97.7% specificity.
Conclusions:
- EMR-based chart review is a highly accurate method for collecting urinary catheter data.
- This validated approach supports reliable CAUTI surveillance through precise device-day tracking.
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