TABLE 1.

Comparison of heterotrophic plate counts for standard and silver-coated needleless connectors

Sample parameter	Standard NCs	Silver-coated NCs	P value
Total no. of samples collected	76	75
No. of samples with deviation from collection protocol	0	4
No. of samples for analysis	76	71
No. (%) of positive samples	35 (46.1)	42 (59.2)	0.11a
No. of samples with >1,000 CFU/NC	4	7	0.456b
No. of NC samples containing ≥2 species/no. of NC samples characterized	5/17	14/29	0.592c

^aDetermined using the nonparametric Wilcoxon test.

^bDetermined using the chi-square test.

^cDetermined using the chi-square test.