Hospital-acquired pneumonia - no apparent seasonal variation: a single institution study

Abstract

Unlike the clear seasonal differences that have been recorded for certain respiratory infectious illnesses, variation in hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) rates by time of year has not been thoroughly investigated. The primary aim of this study was to determine whether HAP rates fluctuate during the year at the University Medical Center (UMC) in Lubbock, Texas. An internal data source maintained by UMC’s Infection Prevention & Control Office called MedMined that builds an algorithm using nosocomial infection markers (NIMs) was used to track HAP rates. The NIMs are microbiology results from various sample sources, including urine, stool, wound, respiratory secretions, and other, that provide a better understanding of a patient’s infection risk and status. MedMined respiratory NIMs data on quarterly scorecards from January 2015 to March 2020 were evaluated using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and subsequently stratified to the departmental level (e.g., MICU, SICU, etc.) followed by a repeat one-way ANOVA for each of the selected departments. Analysis of hospital-wide and selected UMC hospital department respiratory NIMs data revealed no statistically significant difference in respiratory NIM rate by time of year (P = 0.25). Therefore, there is no apparent variation in HAP rates at UMC with respect to time of year either on a hospital-wide or a selected departmental level. Analysis of a national dataset might help determine whether this finding occurs at other institutions.

Key words: hospital-acquired pneumonia, intensive care units, seasons