Table 2.
Patient characteristics on admission and during intensive care stay, in year 1 (baseline) and year 2 (infection control measures implemented) of study (includes only patients with admission and discharge within total study period)
| Characteristica | Year 1 | Year 2 | P valueb |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years (excluding neonates) | |||
| No. of patientsc | 167 | 150 | |
| Median | 38 | 42 | 0.23 |
| Range | 5–88 | 2–84 | |
| Neonates no. | 5 (2.9) | 5 (3.1) | |
| Male sex—no./total no. (%)c | 124/174 (71.3) | 120/157 (76.4) | |
| Admission from other hospital—no./total no. (%) | 149/174 (85.6) | 137/157 (87.3) | 0.67 |
| >48 h in other hospital—no./total no. (%)c | 27/144 (18.8) | 26/128 (20.3) | |
| Tetanus Severity Scored | |||
| No. of patientsc | 166 | 151 | |
| Median | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.007 |
| Range | −6 to 17 | −6 to 20 | |
| Duration of stay (days) | |||
| No. of patients | 174 | 161 | |
| Median | 12 | 17 | 0.004 |
| Range | 1–66 | 1–148 | |
| No. of patient days | 2,527 | 3,235 | |
| Patients with tracheostomy—no./total no. (%) | 83/174 (47.7) | 97/159 (61.0) | 0.015 |
| Total no. of tracheostomy days | 1,651 | 2,350 | |
| No. of patients | 83 | 97 | |
| Median | 20 | 21 | 0.25 |
| Range | 1–57 | 1–145 | |
| Patients ventilated—no./total no. (%) | 71/174 (40.8) | 97/159 (61.0) | 0.0002 |
| Total no. of ventilation days | 1,089 | 1,713 | |
| No. of patientsc | 70 | 96 | |
| Median | 16 | 18 | 0.36 |
| Range | 1–41 | 1–88 | |
| No. nosocomial pneumonia/1,000 ventilation days at risk | 56 | 40 | 0.17 |
| Patients with urinary catheter—no./total no. (%)c | 100/165 (60.6) | 109/159 (68.6) | 0.14 |
| Total no. of catheter days | 1,419 | 1,859 | |
| No. of patientsc | 94 | 108 | |
| Median | 13.5 | 14.5 | 0.54 |
| Range | 2–63 | 2–85 | |
| No. urinary tract infection/1,000 catheter days at risk | 12.8 | 15.1 | 0.61 |
aClinical files were missing for two patients in year 2
bDetermined using χ 2 test or Wilcoxon-rank test
cNumber of patients for whom data were available
dThe Tetanus Severity Score is a composite score calculated from the total of individual scores of age, time from first symptom to admission, difficulty breathing on admission, co-existing medical conditions, entry site, highest blood pressure recorded during first day in hospital, highest heart rate recorded during first day in hospital, lowest heart rate recorded during first day in hospital, and highest temperature recorded during first day in hospital. The score ranges between −8 and 48 and a score ≥8 is predictive of death. It is not applicable to neonates [10]