The economic impact of healthcare-associated infections in hospitalization in intensive care units

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the economic impact caused by the occurrence of healthcare-associated infections (HAIS) in patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Methods: Integrative literature review, which adopted the PICO strategies – Population: ICU patients, Interest: HAIS, and Outcome: economic impact, Extraction, Conversion, Combination, Construction, and Use (ECUs) and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta- Analyses (PRISMA) for searching and sampling in the databases that are part of the CAPES Periodicals Portal. Results: Twenty-one studies were included, categorized according to author, year, title, location, journal, type of study, and average cost of HAI during ICU admission. In the meantime, the cost of hospitalization of patients with HAI in the ICU is up to four times higher, associated with longer stays, use of antimicrobials and laboratory investigations, especially exacerbated in the detection of multidrug-resistant microorganisms. Final considerations: The most common HAI described were respiratory infections, especially Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia and Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia, bloodstream infections, distributed in sepsis, surgical site infection, central venous catheter-associated infection, and urinary tract infection associated with a bladder catheter.