HEALTH CARE ASSOCIATED INFECTIONS (HAIS) - A MAJOR PATIENT SAFETY ISSUE!

Bedi Neeraj* and Nasir Ahmed Ali

ABSTRACT

Context: Health Care Associated Infections (HAIs) is a major patient safety issue for the patients and health care providers in any health care settings. As per WHO prevalence study in 55 hospitals of 14 countries in 4 WHO Regions (Europe, East Mediterranean, South West Asia and Western Pacific) average of 8.7% patients had HAIs with the highest frequencies from East Mediterranean countries (11.8 %). However, in many countries including India the epidemiology and magnitude of the problem of HAIs is not exactly known. Aims: The objectives were to find out the magnitude of problem of the HAIs and to study the epidemiology of HAIs health care settings. Settings and Design: Health Care Settings, Case Control, Cohort, Cross-sectional, Point-Prevalence Studies. Methods and Material: The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews & Meta analysis) guidelines were used to search the articles from January 1993 to December 2012 in English language from different electronic databases. Statistical analysis used: Odds Ratio and 95% confidence interval. Results: 35 papers out of 594 searched, qualified for the study. There were 2 systematic reviews, 11 cohort studies, 6 cross sectional studies, 7 case control studies and 7 were one day point prevalence/survey studies. The prevalence of HAIs ranged widely from 1.4% to 30%. The most common troublesome microorganisms are found to be Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), Escherichia coli and other Gram negative bacteria. The HAIs prevalence rates are found to be highest in the Intensive Care Units (ICUs) of heath care settings. Conclusions: The study showed that HAIs is a major patient’s safety issue due to serious socio-economic implications on the patients and their families. Only few countries have surveillance and monitoring system to collect data on HAIs from Health Care Settings at regular intervals.

Keywords: (Health Care Associated Infections, Nosocomial Infections, Cross-Infections, Hospital Acquired, Prevalence, Incidence)