Risk of multi-drug-resistant organism acquisition from prior bed occupants in the intensive care unit:...

Multi-drug-resistant organisms (MDROs) have become a global threat to human health. Prior bed occupancy with MDRO infection/colonization is an exposure factor that is closely associated with the MDRO acquisition rates in subsequent bed patients in intensive care units (ICUs). A meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the risk of MDRO acquisition from prior bed occupants in the ICU. PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Embase databases and reference lists were searched for articles published up to December 2021. The Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used for quality assessment. The risk measure was calculated as the odds ratio (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI), and the heterogeneity was tested using I² method and Q test. Eight articles were analysed using a random-effects model. Of the 8147 patients exposed to prior bed occupants infected or colonized with MDROs, 421 had acquired MDROs. The control group consisted of 55,933 patients without exposure factors, of which 1768 had been infected/colonized with MDROs. The pooled acquisition OR for MDROs was 1.80 (95% CI: 1.42, 2.29), P<0.00001. Subgroup analysis based on multi-drug-resistant Gram-positive and Gram-negative organisms was conducted using a fixed-effects model. The results significantly varied between the groups. Heterogeneity was partially explained by the MDRO type. In conclusion, exposure of bed occupants to infected/colonized MDROs significantly increased the risk of MDRO acquisition in subsequent bed occupants.