Screening and control of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in 186 intensive care units: different situations and individual solutions

Table 1 Structural characteristics, use of invasive devices, and incidence densities of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in 186 intensive care units

Characteristics of ICUs	Responding ICUs
Type of ICU, number (percentage)
Medical-surgical ICUs	88 (47.3)
Surgical ICUs	44 (23.7)
Medical ICUs	42 (22.6)
Other ICUs	12 (6.4)
Hospital type, number (percentage)
University hospital ICUs	36 (19.4)
Teaching hospital ICUs	89 (47.8)
Non-academic hospital ICUs	61 (32.8)
ICU structure
Number of beds, median (IQR)	11 (8-14)
Number of single rooms, median (IQR)	2 (1-4)
Percentage of ventilator beds, median (IQR)	76 (50-100)
Length of stay in days, median (IQR)	3.7 (2.8-4.8)
Nurse-to-patient ratio^a (IQR)	0.66 (0.56-0.76)
ICUs with less than 1/3 of short admissions of less than 48 hours, number (percentage)	59 (31.7)
Use of invasive devices, median (IQR)
Ventilation use^b	35.7 (23.5-49.5)
Central venous catheter use^b	66.6 (52.6-80.0)
Urinary tract catheter use^b	82.0 (72.8-90.1)
MRSA IDs, median (IQR)
ID of all MRSA cases	3.23 (1.24-5.73)
ID of imported MRSA cases	2.24 (0.63-4.30)
Incidence of imported MRSA cases	0.79 (0.23-1.88)
ID of ICU-acquired MRSA cases	0.64 (0.17-1.39)

^aCalculated by nurses per shift per patient; for employed nurses in 2007, a 40-hour week, not including sick and vacation days, was considered. ^bPer 100 patient-days. ICU, intensive care unit; ID, incidence density per 1,000 patient-days; IQR, interquartile range; MRSA, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

ISSN: 1364-8535