Identifying and Mitigating Disparities in Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections in Minoritized Racial, Ethnic, and Language Groups.

Importance: Although inequitable care due to racism and bias is well documented in health care, the impact on health care-associated infections is less understood. Objective: To determine whether disparities in first central catheter-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) rates existed for pediatric patients of minoritized racial, ethnic, and language groups and to evaluate the outcomes associated with quality improvement initiatives for addressing these disparities. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study retrospectively examined outcomes of 8269 hospitalized patients with central catheters from October 1, 2012, to September 30, 2019, at a freestanding quaternary care children's hospital. Subsequent quality improvement interventions and follow-up were studied, excluding catheter days occurring after the outcome and episodes with catheters of indeterminate age through September 2022. Exposures: Patient self-reported (or parent/guardian-reported) race, ethnicity, and language for care as collected for hospital demographic purposes. Main Outcomes and Measures: Central catheter-associated bloodstream infection events identified by infection prevention surveillance according to National Healthcare Safety Network criteria were reported as events per 1000 central catheter days. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to analyze patient and central catheter characteristics, and interrupted time series was used to analyze quality improvement outcomes. Results: Unadjusted infection rates were higher for Black patients (2.8 per 1000 central catheter days) and patients who spoke a language other than English (LOE; 2.1 per 1000 central catheter days) compared with the overall population (1.5 per 1000 central catheter days). Proportional hazard regression included 225 674 catheter days with 316 infections and represented 8269 patients. A total of 282 patients (3.4%) experienced a CLABSI (mean [IQR] age, 1.34 [0.07-8.83] years; female, 122 [43.3%]; male, 160 [56.7%]; English-speaking, 236 [83.7%]; LOE, 46 [16.3%]; American Indian or Alaska Native, 3 [1.1%]; Asian, 14 [5.0%]; Black, 26 [9.2%]; Hispanic, 61 [21.6%]; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, 4 [1.4%]; White, 139 [49.3%]; ≥2 races, 14 [5.0%]; unknown race and ethnicity or refused to answer, 15 [5.3%]). In the adjusted model, a higher hazard ratio (HR) was observed for Black patients (adjusted HR, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.2-2.6; P = .002) and patients who spoke an LOE (adjusted HR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.1-2.3; P = .01). Following quality improvement interventions, infection rates in both subgroups showed statistically significant level changes (Black patients: -1.77; 95% CI, -3.39 to -0.15; patients speaking an LOE: -1.25; 95% CI, -2.23 to -0.27). Conclusions and Relevance: The study's findings show disparities in CLABSI rates for Black patients and patients who speak an LOE that persisted after adjusting for known risk factors, suggesting that systemic racism and bias may play a role in inequitable hospital care for hospital-acquired infections. Stratifying outcomes to assess for disparities prior to quality improvement efforts may inform targeted interventions to improve equity.

Healthcare-associated Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia: time to reduce the harm caused by a largely preventable event.

Staphylococcus aureus disease is associated with significant morbidity and mortality and of concern, it disproportionally affects Maori and Pacific Peoples. New Zealand has high rates of skin and soft tissue infection caused by S. aureus. Healthcare-associated S. aureus bacteraemia (HA-SAB) accounts for a significant proportion of all S. aureus bacteraemia events. Measurement of HA-SAB has been reported in New Zealand for over 20 years but it has not been linked to quality improvement interventions to reduce the rate. It has been used as an outcome measure for the Hand Hygiene New Zealand programme; however, a recent review of submitted data questioned the accuracy of it. This has been addressed. National programmes such as the Health Quality & Safety Commissions Hand Hygiene New Zealand and the Surgical Site Infection Improvement programme have led to reduced harm from healthcare-associated infections. Interventions targeted at reducing the HA-SAB rate, such as bundles of care for insertion and maintenance of vascular access devices and skin and nasal decolonisation of staphylococci prior to surgery, are urgently required.

Development of a Clinical Prediction Model for Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection in Children Presenting to the Emergency Department.

OBJECTIVE: The majority of the children with a central line who present to the emergency department with fever or other signs of bacteremia do not have a central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI). Our objective was to develop a clinical prediction model for CLABSI among this group of children in order to ultimately limit unnecessary hospital admissions and antibiotic use. METHODS: We performed a nested case-control study of children with a central line who presented to the emergency department of an urban, tertiary care children's hospital between January 2010 and March 2015 and were evaluated for CLABSI with a blood culture. RESULTS: The final multivariable model developed to predict CLABSI consisted of 12 factors: age younger than 5 years, black race, use of total parenteral nutrition, tunneled central venous catheter, double-lumen catheter, absence of other bacterial infection, absence of viral upper respiratory tract infection symptoms, diarrhea, emergency department temperature greater than 39.5°C, fever prior to presentation, neutropenia, and spring/summer season. The clinical prediction score had good discrimination for CLABSI with a c-statistic of 0.81 (confidence interval, 0.77-0.85). A cut point less than 6 was associated with a sensitivity of 98.5% and a negative predictive value of 99.2% for CLABSI. CONCLUSIONS: We were able to identify risk factors and develop a clinical prediction model for CLABSI in children presenting to the emergency department. Once validated in future study, this clinical prediction model could be used to assess the need for hospitalization and/or antibiotics among this group of patients.

Classification tree analysis of race-specific subgroups at risk for a central venous catheter-related bloodstream infection.

BACKGROUND: Studies of racial disparities in patient safety events often do not use race-specific risk adjustment and do not account for reciprocal covariate interactions. These limitations were addressed by using classification tree analysis separately for black patients and white patients to identify characteristics that segment patients who have increased risks for a venous catheter-related bloodstream infection. METHODS: A retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of 5,236,045 discharges from 103 Florida acute hospitals in 2005-2009 was conducted. Hospitals were rank ordered on the basis of the black/white Patient Safety Indicator (PSI) 7 rate ratio as follows: Group 1 (white rate higher), Group 2, (equivalent rates), Group 3, (black rate higher), and Group 4, (black rate highest). Predictor variables included 26 comorbidities (Elixhauser Comorbidity Index) and demographic characteristics. Four separate classification tree analyses were completed for each race/hospital group. RESULTS: Individual characteristics and groups of characteristics associated with increased PSI 7 risk differed for black and white patients. The average age for both races was different across the hospital groups (p < .01). Weight loss was the strongest single delineator and common to both races. The black subgroups with the highest PSI 7 risk were Medicare beneficiaries who were either < or = 25.5 years without hypertension or < or = 39.5 years without hypertension but with an emergency or trauma admission. The white subgroup with the highest PSI 7 risk consisted of patients < or = 45.5 years who had congestive heart failure but did not have either hypertension or weight loss. DISCUSSION: Identifying subgroups of patients at risk for a rare safety event such as PSI 7 should aid effective clinical decisions and efficient use of resources and help to guide patient safety interventions.

Disparity in race-specific comorbidities associated with central venous catheter-related bloodstream infection (AHRQ-PSI7).

Studies of racial disparities in hospital-level patient safety outcomes typically apply a race-common approach to risk adjustment. Risk factors specific to a minority population may not be identified in a race-common analysis if they represent only a small percentage of total cases. This study identified patient comorbidities and characteristics associated with the likelihood of a venous catheter-related bloodstream infection (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Patient Safety Indicator 7 [PSI7]) separately for blacks and whites using race-specific logistic regression models. Hospitals were ranked by the racial disparity in PSI7 and segmented into 4 groups. The analysis identified both black- and white-specific risk factors associated with PSI7. Age showed race-specific reverse association, with younger blacks and older whites more likely to have a PSI7 event. These findings suggest the need for race-specific covariate adjustments in patient outcomes and provide a new context for examining racial disparities.

Microbiology of tunnelled catheter-related infections in a multi-ethnic South-east Asian patient population.

INTRODUCTION: Clinical practice guidelines recommend empiric antibiotic therapy for suspected tunnelled haemodialysis catheter-related infections (CRI), and the choice of antibiotics should be adjusted according to the local microbiological profile and antimicrobial sensitivities. We aim to describe the microbiology, antibiotic sensitivities, and clinical outcomes of CRI with tunnelled haemodialysis catheters in a multi-ethnic South-East Asian population. METHODS: Using a prospective vascular access registry, we identified 99 patients who had catheters removed for suspected or confirmed CRI (50.5% male, mean age 56.9 years) from January 1, 2007, till May 2009. We retrospectively retrieved microbiology, mortality and echocardiography data from the hospital electronic databases. RESULTS: There were 115 removal-unique cultures that yielded 75.7% Gram-positive and 24.3% Gram-negative isolates (15 removals were polymicrobial). Organisms isolated were methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) 28.6%, methicillin-sensitive S. aureus 26.5%, coagulase-negative staphylococci 21.4%, Pseudomonas aeruginosa 10.2%, and others. Out of 8 patients who died, 7 had MRSA. Risk factors associated with mortality were Chinese race (p = 0.03), MRSA infection (p < 0.001), and older age (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Gram-positive isolates accounted for most tunnelled CRI and MRSA was highly associated with death. In sick patients presenting with suspected CRI, the preferred empiric antibiotic regimen should include agents active against both MRSA and P. aeruginosa.

Peritonitis and exit site infections in First Nations patients on peritoneal dialysis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: First Nations (FN) patients on peritoneal dialysis experience poor outcomes. Whether discrepancies exist regarding the microbiology, rate of infections, and outcomes between FN and non-FN peoples remains unknown. Design, setting, participants, & measures: All adult peritoneal dialysis patients (n = 727) from 1997 to 2007 residing in Manitoba, Canada, were included. Parametric and nonparametric tests were used as necessary. Negative binomial regression was used to determine the relationship of rates of exit site infections (ESIs) and peritonitis between FN and non-FN peoples. RESULTS: A total of 161 FN and 566 non-FN subjects were included in the analyses. The unadjusted relative rates of peritonitis and ESIs in FN subjects were 132.7 and 86.0/100 patient-years compared with 87.8 and 78.2/100 patient-years in non-FN populations, respectively. FN subjects were more likely to have culture-negative peritonitis (36.5 versus 20.8%, P < 0.0001) and Staphylococcus ESIs (54.1 versus 32.9%, P < 0.0001). The crude and adjusted rates of peritonitis were higher in FN subjects for total episodes and culture-negative and gram-negative peritonitis. Catheter removal because of peritonitis was similar in both groups (42.9 versus 38.1% for FN and non-FN subjects, respectively; P = 0.261). CONCLUSIONS: FN patients experience higher rates of peritonitis and similar rates of ESIs compared with non-FN patients. Interventions to improve outcomes and prevent infections should specifically be targeted to the FN population.