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

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Device prevalence; Patient safety; Quality improvement.