Risk factors for nosocomial pneumonia in intensive care units of a University Hospital

Objective: The evaluation of risk factors in patients with Nosocomial pneumonia (NP) may provide useful guidance forpatients who need intensive care. The aim of this study was to identify risk factors of NP in ICU.Methods: During the six months period of time, patients who stayed in ICUs for at least 48 hours were included in atertiary medical center. A total of 304 patients were prospectively followed and 78 of them who developed NP made upthe NP group. Patients who did not develop any infection were defined as control group. Variables which was thoughtor detected as a risk factor of NP in univariate analysis were analyzed with multivariate logistic regression analysis.Results: Among 304 patients, 78 (25.6%) had NP. Multivariate analysis revealed that advanced age (odds ratio [OR] 1,95% confidence interval [CI] 1.00-1.06), length of stay (LOS) in the ICU (OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.17-1.39), prior infection onadmission to ICU (OR 6.7, 95% CI 1.52-29.94), transfusion of blood and blood products (OR 4.0, 95% CI 1.43-11.46) andprior antibiotic usage within the last two weeks before admission (OR 3.3, 95% CI 1.28-8.48) were independent riskfactors for NP. Additionally, the mean APACHE II score of cases with NP (16.7±6.7) was significantly higher than that ofcontrols (11.5±8.1; p<0.001).Conclusion: We must be awake to make the diagnosis earlier in patients with determined risk factors: advanced age,LOS in ICU, prior infection, transfusion of blood products and prior antibiotic usage. . J Microbiol Infect Dis 2013; 3(1): 3-7Key words: Intensive care unit, nosocomial pneumonia, risk factors