Table 1.
Ranking of mean number of items and mean costs per patient plus outcomes
| Resource use | Hospital 1 (n = 201) | Hospital 2 (n = 50) | Hospital 3 (n = 40) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical chemistry testing | Creatinine 2.90; 3 [0–22] |
Creatinine 4.62; 5 [0–13] |
Glucose 5.83; 2 [0–55] |
| Potassium 2.73; 2 [0–48] |
CRP 3.62; 3 [0–8] |
Creatinine 4.95; 4 [0–12] |
|
| Sodium 2.72; 2 [0–54] |
Glucose 3.48; 2 [0–29] |
CRP 4.90; 5 [0–11] |
|
| CRP 2.21; 2 [0–13] |
Hemoglobin 3.46; 3 [0–13] |
Sodium 4.35; 4 [0–13] |
|
| Leucocytes 1.92; 2 [0–16] |
Sodium 3.32; 3 [0–12] |
Potassium 4.35; 4 [0–11] |
|
| Mean costs (SE) | €25 (1.5) | €37 (2.9) | €49 (4.5) |
| Radiological exams | CXR 1.49; 1 [1–8] |
CXR 1.40; 1 [0–6] |
CXR 1.33; 1 [0–4] |
| Chest CT 0.11; 0 [0–1] |
Echocardiography 0.24; 0 [0–3] |
Chest CT 0.13; 0 [0–1] |
|
| Abdominal sonography 0.07; 0 [0–1] |
Chest CT 0.16; 0 [0–1] |
Abdominal sonography 0.13; 0 [0–1] |
|
| Echocardiography 0.02; 0 [0–2] |
Abdominal sonography 0.04; 0 [0–1] |
Echocardiography 0.08; 0 [0–1] |
|
| Mean costs (SE) | €89 (7.5) | €118 (20) | €87 (17) |
| Microbiological testing | PCR – hybridization* 10.06; 9 [0–37] |
AMR detection
3.66; 0 [0–57] |
PCR – hybridization* 5.33; 6 [0–15] |
| Antigen detection 2.22; 2 [0–6] |
Antigen detection 2.52; 2 [0–5] |
Serologic antibody detection 4.25 5 [0–7] | |
|
AMR detection
1.9; 0 [0–32] |
Blood culturing 2.40; 2 [0–6] |
Blood culturing 2.2; 2 [0–6] |
|
| Agar culturing 1.66; 1 [0–9] |
Agar culturing 2.18; 2 [0–10] |
AMR detection
1.93; 0 [0–44] |
|
| Gram staining 1.41; 1 [0–8] |
Gram staining 1.6; 1 [0–5] |
Antigen detection 1.58; 2 [0–4] |
|
| Mean costs (SE) | €726 (34) | €195 (17) | €476 (44) |
| Overall mean costs (SE) | €841 (37) | €350 (31) | €612 (46) |
| Outcomes | Hospital 1 | Hospital 2 | Hospital 3 |
| Microbiological diagnostic yield, n (%)$ | 91 (45) | 15 (30) | 15 (38) |
| Antibiotic de-escalation, n (%)# | 57 (30) | 21 (48) | 13 (33) |
| Secondary ICU admissions, n (%) | 10 (5) | 3 (6) | 1 (3) |
A maximum of 5 items per category per hospital are listed. Items are only listed if the mean number per patient was ≥0.1 in at least one hospital. Overall mean costs per patient per hospital per category are shown. *counted on pathogen level. Data are presented as mean; median [minimum-maximum], unless stated otherwise
Abbreviations: AMR antimicrobial resistance, CRP C-reactive protein, CT Computed Tomography, CXR Chest X-ray, ICU Intensive Care unit, PCR Polymerase Chain Reaction, SE Standard Error
$p = 0.050 for difference between hospital 1 and hospital 2
#p = 0.018 for difference between hospital 1 and hospital 2