Background: The study objective was to quantify infection rate trends for central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) and catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) in 89 Alabama hospitals from 2015 to 2021 to analyze how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted health care delivery.
Methods: Retrospective analysis of CLABSI and CAUTI rates, from 89 Alabama hospitals via data from the Alabama Department of Public Health from 2015 to 2021.
Results: Based on our modeling strategies, there was a statistically significant decrease in rates of CAUTIs from 2015 to 2019 at an estimated rate of 7% per year (P = 0.0167) and CLABSIs from 2015 to 2018 at an estimated rate of 13% per year (P < .001) in these hospitals. In 2020, the CAUTI and CLABSI rates began increasing at a modeled rate of 29% per year (P = .001) and 35% per year (P < .001) respectively.
Discussion: A review of potential causes for the elevated rate of health care-associated infections illustrated that certain practices may have contributed to increased CAUTI and CLABSI rates. Utilizing staff from noncritical care areas with less experience in health care-associated infection prevention, batching of tasks to conserve personal protective equipment, and a nationwide mental health crisis could have affected infection prevention bundle compliance.
Conclusions: An increase in CAUTIs and CLABSIs was observed during the pandemic, likely due to the large volume of patients requiring advanced medical care and subsequent depleted resources.
Keywords: Health care–associated infection (HAI); Infection prevention bundle; Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
Copyright © 2023 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.