Comparison of Data Collection for Healthcare-Associated Infection Surveillance in Nursing Homes

Area of Science:

• Infectious Diseases
• Epidemiology
• Healthcare Quality Improvement

Background:

• Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) pose a significant burden in nursing homes.
• Accurate surveillance data is crucial for effective HAI prevention and control strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the quality of resident-level data collected by nursing home (NH) personnel versus external surveillance officers.
• To assess the impact of NH personnel data collection on HAI prevalence estimates.

Main Methods:

• A 1-day point-prevalence survey was conducted in 9 nursing homes across 4 CDC Emerging Infection Program (EIP) sites.
• NH personnel and trained EIP surveillance officers collected data on resident characteristics, HAI risk factors, and screening criteria.
• Agreement was calculated, and HAI prevalence was assessed using data from both sources.

Main Results:

• Overall prevalence of clinical risk factors was similar, but positive agreement on identified factors varied (39%-87%).
• Surveillance officers identified more residents with HAI screening criteria (20%) and HAIs (5.3/100 residents) compared to NH personnel (12% and 3.5/100 residents, respectively).

Conclusions:

• Discrepancies exist in resident-level data collection between NH personnel and external surveillance officers.
• These differences lead to varied estimates of HAI prevalence, impacting future surveillance design and implementation in NHs.