Abstract 1594

Although NI is common in low gestational age (GA) babies, rates vary between sites. Benchmarks need to be established to provide goals for future quality improvement.

Objective: To examine varying NI rates [Percentage (%) and per 100 patient days (NI/100D)] to help establish goals for minimum NI.

Method: Analysis of information for 19,551 admissions to 17 CANICU site in 1996-97. Rates from each site were calculated as a percentage (%) of babies, NI per 100 patient days (NI/100D) with inter-quartile ranges (IQR) between the 25th and 75th percentiles (5th and 13th ranked sites). Sites with rates more than 1.5 times IQR above 75th percentile were identified as outliers (OUT).

Results: Table below. Two outlier sites were relatively consistent among GA categories and total.

Table 1 No caption available
Full size table

Conclusion: Low GA babies are more likely to have NI; this is less evident when length of stay is considered. In spite of variations in NI % and NI/1000 among sites. Methods identify outlier sites. Benchmarks should be utilized in continuing quality improvement processes related to nosocomial infection in babies in the NICU.

Funded by the Medical Research Council of Canada