Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) cause a total of 7,414 deaths per year in Spain and cause direct costs of 2,025 million eurosas reflected in the point prevalence study of hospital infections in Spain (EPINE).
This is a prospective observational study in which a follow-up has been carried out for 30 days in which a total of 109,354 patients recruited in 310 hospitals between 2022 and 2023. Of them, a total of 8.551 have developed an infection during their stay at the medical center.
Crude mortality was significantly higher for infected patients than for uninfected patients. (11,04% vs 5.87%). When adjusted for age, sex, and admission severity index, infected patients showed a higher risk of dying within 30 days than non-infected patients.
The attributable mortality of infected patients was 34,6% and the population attributable mortality (that of all hospitalized patients) was 2,7%. The excess length of stay attributable to HAIs was 6.9 days per infected patient.
“HAIs cause a very significant burden of death and costs in Spain; and it is necessary to implement effective and efficient programs to prevent them and reduce their incidence and their derived costs,” said Ángel Asensio, director of the Epine study.