Post-discharge follow-up of hospital-associated infections in paediatric patients with conventional questionnaires and electronic surveillance

• Published in: The Journal of hospital infection Vol. 80; no. 1; pp. 13 - 16
• Main Authors: Kinnula, S, Renko, M, Tapiainen, T, Pokka, T, Uhari, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2012; Elsevier
• Subjects: Automatic Data Processing; Biological and medical sciences; Child, Preschool; Cross Infection - epidemiology; Data Collection - economics; Data Collection - methods; Electronic questionnaire; Epidemiologic Methods; Follow-Up Studies; General aspects; Hospital-associated infection; Hospitals, Pediatric; Human infectious diseases. Experimental studies and models; Humans; Infectious Disease; Infectious diseases; Medical sciences; Paediatrics; Post-discharge follow-up; Record linkage; Surveys and Questionnaires; Time Factors; Post-discharge follow-up; Hospital-associated infection; Electronic questionnaire; Record linkage; Paediatrics; Human; Nosocomial infection; Questionnaire; Discharge; Surveillance; Genetic linkage; Genetics; Child; Public health
• ISSN: 0195-6701; 1532-2939
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhin.2011.09.005

Summary Background Viral infections are common causes of hospital-associated infections (HAIs) in paediatric patients, with most of these infections only becoming evident after discharge. Aim To analyse the benefits and costs of conventional and electronic surveillance methods for conducting HAI follow-ups. Methods A comparison was made between response rate, time required per patient and costs to the healthcare system of conventional and electronic surveillance methods (sms, e-mail, telephone call). Findings Altogether 1927 patients participated in the conventional followed up in 2001–2003, of whom 1175 (61%) returned the questionnaire; during the electronic surveillance period in 2005–2007, 2309 patients were followed-up in hospital, and 1940 of them (84%) returned the post-discharge information to us. The time needed by HCWs was 33 min per patient in the conventional follow-up and 13 min in the electronic follow-up, the total costs per patient being €15.07 and €13.61 respectively. A decrease of 17.1% in annual expenses was achieved with the electronic follow-up. The incidence of HAI was 8.4% in the conventional period and 12.2% in the electronic surveillance period, most cases becoming symptomatic after hospitalization. Conclusion Electronic data collection was a convenient way of implementing a continuous HAI follow-up, achieving both a higher participation rate and lower costs.