Work

Sustained decrease in urine culture utilization after implementing a reflex urine culture intervention: A multicenter quasi-experimental study

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: Accurately diagnosing urinary tract infections (UTIs) in hospitalized patients remains challenging, requiring correlation of frequently nonspecific symptoms and laboratory findings. Urine cultures (UCs) are often ordered indiscriminately, especially in patients with urinary catheters, despite the Infectious Diseases Society of America guidelines recommending against routine screening for asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB).1,2 Positive UCs can be difficult for providers to ignore, leading to unnecessary antibiotic treatment of ASB.2,3 Using diagnostic stewardship to limit UCs to situations with a positive urinalysis (UA) can reduce inappropriate UCs since the absence of pyuria suggests the absence of infection.4-6 We assessed the impact of the implementation of a UA with reflex to UC algorithm ("reflex intervention") on UC ordering practices, diagnostic efficiency, and UTIs using a quasi-experimental design.

Source: Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology

DOI: 10.1017/ice.2020.5

Authors: Jessica R. Howard-Anderson, Shanza Ashraf, Elizabeth C. Overton, Lisa Reif, David J. Murphy, Jesse T. Jacob

Institutions: Emory University, Emory Healthcare, Emory University Hospital

Language: English

Topic: Urinary Tract Infections Management

Subfield: Epidemiology

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences