Title

Establishing the Prevalence of Healthcare-associated Infections in Australian Hospitals: Protocol for the Comprehensive Healthcare Associated Infection National Surveillance (CHAINS) Study

Authors

Philip L. Russo, Deakin University, AustraliaFollow
Andrew Stewardson, Monash University, AustraliaFollow
Allen C. Cheng, Monash University
Tracey Bucknall, Deakin University, Australia
Kalisavar Marimuthu, National University of Singapore
Brett G. Mitchell, Avondale College of Higher EducationFollow

Author Faculty (Discipline)

Nursing

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-8-2018

JOURNAL

British Medical Journal (BMJ) Open

VOLUME NUMBER

8

ISSUE NUMBER

11

PAGE NUMBERS

e024924

ISSN

2044-6055

Embargo Period

11-12-2018

ANZSRC / FoR Code

111099 Nursing not elsewhere classified

Reportable Items (HERDC/ERA)

C1

Abstract

Introduction A healthcare-associated infection (HAI) data point prevalence study (PPS) conducted in 1984 in Australian hospitals estimated the prevalence of HAI to be 6.3%. Since this time, there have been no further national estimates undertaken. In the absence of a coordinated national surveillance programme or regular PPS, there is a dearth of national HAI data to inform policy and practice priorities.

Methods and analysis A national HAI PPS study will be undertaken based on the European Centres for Disease Control method. Nineteen public acute hospitals will participate. A standardised algorithm will be used to detect HAIs in a two-stage cluster design, random sample of adult inpatients in acute wards and all intensive care unit patients. Data from each hospital will be collected by two trained members of the research team. We will estimate the prevalence of HAIs, invasive device use, single room placement and deployment of transmission-based precautions.

Link to publisher version (DOI)

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-024924

Peer Review

Before publication

Comments

Copyright © Author(s) (or their employer(s) 2018. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. Published by BMJ. This article may be accessed from the publisher here.

At the time of writing Philip Russo was affiliated with Deakin University.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Recommended Citation

Russo, P. L., Stewardson, A., Cheng, A. C., Bucknall, T., Marimuthu, K., & Mitchell, B. (2018). Establishing the prevalence of healthcare-associated infections in Australian hospitals: Protocol for the Comprehensive Healthcare Associated Infection National Surveillance (CHAINS) study. British Medical Journal (BMJ) Open, 8(11): e024924, doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2018-02492

Associated Research Project

https://research.avondale.edu.au/research_documentation/9/