withheld. Before aggregation individual data were checked for completeness and consistency. Patient and treatment characteristics were determined in patients with and without infection. The incidence of infections per 1,000 device days was calculated. To calculate the incidence density of subsequent periods the numbers of days at risk of a patient were divided over and thus contributed to the subsequent categories, as described by McLaws and Berry [7]. Kaplan Meier survival analysis and Cox regression in SAS 9.1 [8] were used to calculate the relative risk of acquiring infection for patient and treatment characteristics with regard to the time at risk. Logistic regression was used to determine the effect of duration of device use on infection and the effect of risk factors on mortality. For uniformity we used the same categories of risk factors for all infections. Risk factors with a p‐value of 0.20 or less in the univariate regression were initially included in the multiple regression models. The model was reduced by means of manual backward elimination. Risk factors, contributing significantly to the goodness of fit of the model but not statistically significant independent risk factors in themselves are also shown. Statistical significance was defined at p ≤ 0.05. RESULTS Device‐related infection rates, and ICU stay Overall 58% of patients were mechanically ventilated (568 days per 1,000 ICU days), 61% had a CVC (506 days per 1,000 ICU days) and 86% had an indwelling catheter (818 days per 1,000 ICU days). As many as 71% of the patients had two or more different devices during (part of) their ICU stay and 43% had all three. Of all pneumonia cases 86% were associated with mechanical ventilation. VAP occurred in 19% of ventilated patients, with an incidence of 25 per 1,000 ventilator days. Of all sepsis cases 34% were related to a central vascular catheter. Of the patients with a CVC 3% developed CR‐BSI, with an incidence of 4 per 1,000 CVC days. Of all UTI cases 95% were associated with the use of an indwelling catheter. CA‐UTI occurred in 8% of the patients with an indwelling urinary catheter, with an incidence of 9 per 1,000 CAD days. Median ICU stay was 7 days (IQR 7) in ventilated patients without VAP and 17 days (IQR 17) in those with infection; 6 days (IQR 8) in patients with a central vascular catheter without CR‐BSI and 24 days in those with infection; and 6 days (IQR 6) in patients with a urinary catheter without CA‐UTI and 18.5 days (IQR 16.5) in those who developed infection. Table 1 shows the median duration of device use and the IQR. Patients who developed a device‐associated infection had significantly longer ICU stays. 2 25 Device-associated infections and associated mortality in the ICU
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