Preventing Hospital-Acquired Urinary Tract Infection in the United States: A National Study

Abstract

Despite the strong link between urinary catheters and subsequent UTI, we found no strategy that appeared to be widely used to prevent hospital-acquired UTI. The most commonly used practices--bladder ultrasound and antimicrobial catheters--were each used in fewer than one-third of hospitals, and urinary catheter reminders, which have proven benefits, were used in <10% of US hospitals.