How common are indwelling devices in hospitalized adults? A contemporary point prevalence study in a tertiary care hospital.

BACKGROUND

Healthcare associated infections are associated with indwelling devices. Yet, data regarding prevalence of indwelling devices in noncritically ill hospitalized patients remains scant.

METHODS

Adult, noncritically ill patients on general care, telemetry, and surgical floors at our quaternary care hospital were surveyed on 2 separate days. Data regarding presence of indwelling vascular, urinary, and gastrointestinal devices, as well as nurse to patient ratio on each unit were collected.

RESULTS

There were 1,229 devices observed among the 857 patients surveyed across 2 days. Of the surveyed patients, 780 (91.0%) had at least 1 indwelling device. Among all devices, intravenous catheters were the most common (90.1%), followed by gastrointestinal devices (12.8%) and urinary catheters (10.2%). The most prevalent device was peripheral intravenous catheters. The median nurse to patient ratio was 3 patients to 1 nurse; no difference in nurse to patient ratio based on the number of devices present was observed.

CONCLUSIONS

Indwelling device use appears highly prevalent in general care settings and variation among devices is common. Healthcare associated infections prevention strategies targeting these devices are necessary.