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Coffey KC, Claeys K, Morgan DJ. Diagnostic Stewardship for Urine Cultures. Infect Dis Clin North Am 2024; 38:255-266. [PMID: 38575490 DOI: 10.1016/j.idc.2024.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/06/2024]
Abstract
Urinary tract infections are among the most common infectious diagnoses in health care, but most urinary tract infections are diagnosed inappropriately in patients without signs or symptoms of infection. Asymptomatic bacteriuria leads to inappropriate antibiotic prescribing and negative downstream effects, including antimicrobial resistance, health care-associated infections, and adverse drug events. Diagnostic stewardship is the process of modifying the ordering, performing, or reporting of test results to improve clinical care. Diagnostic stewardship impacts the diagnostic pathway to decrease inappropriate detection and treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria. This article reviews diagnostic stewardship methods and closes with a case study illustrating these principles in practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- K C Coffey
- Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 10 S. Pine Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
| | - Kimberley Claeys
- Department of Practice and Science and Health Outcomes Research, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Daniel J Morgan
- Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 10 S. Pine Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
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Axelrod C, Cobian J, Montero J. Positive predictive value of urine analysis with reflex criteria at a large community hospital. Int Urogynecol J 2024; 35:341-346. [PMID: 37889303 DOI: 10.1007/s00192-023-05667-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Accepted: 09/26/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS Urine analysis with reflex to culture (URTC) is employed as a diagnostic aid for urinary tract infections (UTIs). Criteria utilized to determine whether a urine analysis (UA) will reflex varies owing to a lack of evidence-based guidance. Positive predictive value (PPV) of URTC varies across studies. The URTC criteria in this study included moderate or more white blood cells (> 5 high-power field [HPF]), few or more bacteria (> 1 HPF), and few or no epithelial cells (< 3 HPF). The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which URTC predicts culture positivity. METHODS This study was a single-center, retrospective evaluation at a large community hospital. A report of URTC ordered in adults in October 2020 was generated from the hospital's electronic database. The primary outcome was to determine the PPV of URTC criteria. The secondary outcome was to examine the differences in microscopic UA results between culture-positive and culture-negative urine. A total of 350 patients were included for analysis. The data was analyzed through descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U test, and multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS The results showed a PPV of 58%. Variables predicting negative culture included younger patients, males, and a reason for the visit to the emergency department of a fall/syncope or other. CONCLUSIONS Further optimization is needed for URTC criteria and the appropriateness of ordering UAs to reduce operational laboratory costs and inappropriate antibiotic treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chelsey Axelrod
- St. Luke's University Health Network, 801 Ostrum Street, Bethlehem, PA, 18015, USA.
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Sánchez X, Latacunga A, Cárdenas I, Jimbo-Sotomayor R, Escalante S. Antibiotic prescription patterns in patients with suspected urinary tract infections in Ecuador. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0295247. [PMID: 38033109 PMCID: PMC10688952 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0295247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2023] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Urinary tract infections (UTI) are among the most common cause to prescribe antibiotics in primary care. Diagnosis is based on the presence of clinical symptoms in combination with the results of laboratory tests. Antibiotic therapy is the primary approach to the treatment of UTIs; however, some studies indicate that therapeutics in UTIs may be suboptimal, potentially leading to therapeutic failure and increased bacterial resistance. METHODS This study aimed to analyze the antibiotic prescription patterns in adult patients with suspected UTIs and to evaluate the appropriateness of the antibiotic prescription. This is a cross-sectional study of patients treated in outpatient centers and in a second-level hospital of the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) in a city in Ecuador during 2019. The International Classification of Disease Tenth Revision (ICD-10) was used for the selection of the acute UTI cases. The patients included in this study were those treated by family, emergency, and internal medicine physicians. RESULTS We included a total of 507 patients in the analysis and 502 were prescribed antibiotics at first contact, constituting an immediate antibiotic prescription rate of 99.01%. Appropriate criteria for antibiotic prescription were met in 284 patients, representing an appropriate prescription rate of 56.02%. Less than 10% of patients with UTI had a urine culture. The most frequently prescribed antibiotics were alternative antibiotics (also known as second-line antibiotics), such as ciprofloxacin (50.39%) and cephalexin (23.55%). Factors associated with inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for UTIs were physician age over forty years, OR: 2.87 (95% CI, 1.65-5.12) p<0.0001, medical care by a general practitioner, OR: 1.89 (95% CI, 1.20-2.99) p = 0.006, not using point-of-care testing, OR: 1.96 (95% CI, 1.23-3.15) p = 0.005, and care at the first level of health, OR: 15.72 (95% CI, 8.57-30.88) p<0.0001. CONCLUSIONS The results of our study indicate an appropriate prescription rate of 56.02%. Recommended antibiotics such as nitrofurantoin and fosfomycin for UTIs are underutilized. The odds for inappropriate antibiotic prescription were 15.72 times higher at the first level of care compared to the second. Effective strategies are needed to improve the diagnosis and treatment of UTIs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xavier Sánchez
- Centro de Investigación Para la Salud en América Latina (CISeAL), Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE), Quito, Ecuador
- Community and Primary Care Research Group – Ecuador (CPCRG-E), Quito, Ecuador
| | - Alicia Latacunga
- Postgrado de Medicina Familiar y Comunitaria, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE), Quito, Ecuador
| | - Iván Cárdenas
- Postgrado de Medicina Familiar y Comunitaria, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE), Quito, Ecuador
| | - Ruth Jimbo-Sotomayor
- Centro de Investigación Para la Salud en América Latina (CISeAL), Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE), Quito, Ecuador
- Community and Primary Care Research Group – Ecuador (CPCRG-E), Quito, Ecuador
| | - Santiago Escalante
- Centro de Investigación Para la Salud en América Latina (CISeAL), Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE), Quito, Ecuador
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Applying Diagnostic Stewardship to Proactively Optimize the Management of Urinary Tract Infections. Antibiotics (Basel) 2022; 11:antibiotics11030308. [PMID: 35326771 PMCID: PMC8944608 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics11030308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2021] [Revised: 02/05/2022] [Accepted: 02/17/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
A urinary tract infection is amongst the most common bacterial infections in the community and hospital setting and accounts for an estimated 1.6 to 2.14 billion in national healthcare expenditure. Despite its financial impact, the diagnosis is challenging with urine cultures and antibiotics often inappropriately ordered for non-specific symptoms or asymptomatic bacteriuria. In an attempt to limit unnecessary laboratory testing and antibiotic overutilization, several diagnostic stewardship initiatives have been described in the literature. We conducted a systematic review with a focus on the application of molecular and microbiological diagnostics, clinical decision support, and implementation of diagnostic stewardship initiatives for urinary tract infections. The most successful strategies utilized a bundled, multidisciplinary, and multimodal approach involving nursing and physician education and feedback, indication requirements for urine culture orders, reflex urine culture programs, cascade reporting, and urinary antibiograms. Implementation of antibiotic stewardship initiatives across the various phases of laboratory testing (i.e., pre-analytic, analytic, post-analytic) can effectively decrease the rate of inappropriate ordering of urine cultures and antibiotic prescribing in patients with clinically ambiguous symptoms that are unlikely to be a urinary tract infection.
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Urinary Tract Infections in Kidney Transplant Recipients-Is There a Need for Antibiotic Stewardship? J Clin Med 2021; 11:jcm11010226. [PMID: 35011966 PMCID: PMC8745876 DOI: 10.3390/jcm11010226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2021] [Revised: 12/19/2021] [Accepted: 12/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
(1) Background: Urinary tract infections (UTI) are the most common infections after kidney transplantation. Given the risk of urosepsis and the potential threat to the graft, the threshold for treating UTI and asymptomatic bacteriuria with broad spectrum antibiotics is low. Historically fluoroquinolones were prescription favorites for patients that underwent kidney transplantation (KT). After the recent recommendation to avoid them in these patients, however, alternative treatment strategies need to be investigated (2) Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the charts of 207 consecutive adult kidney transplantations that were performed at the department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery of the University Hospital of Tuebingen between January 2015 and August 2020. All charts were screened for the diagnosis and treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) and urinary tract infections (UTI) and the patients' clinical characteristics and outcomes were evaluated. (3) Results: Of the 207 patients, 68 patients suffered from urinary tract infections. Patients who developed UTI had worse graft function at discharge (p = 0.024) and at the 12 months follow-up (p < 0.001). The most commonly prescribed antibiotics were Ciprofloxacin and Piperacillin/Tazobactam. To both, bacterial resistance was more common in the study cohort than in the control group. (4) Conclusions: Urinary tract infections appear to be linked to worse graft functions. Thus, prevention and treatment should be accompanied by antibiotic stewardship teams.
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Claeys KC, Trautner BW, Leekha S, Coffey KC, Crnich CJ, Diekema D, Fakih MG, Goetz MB, Gupta K, Jones MM, Leykum L, Liang SY, Pineles L, Pleiss A, Spivak ES, Suda KJ, Taylor J, Rhee C, Morgan DJ. Optimal Urine Culture Diagnostic Stewardship Practice- Results from an Expert Modified-Delphi Procedure. Clin Infect Dis 2021; 75:382-389. [PMID: 34849637 DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciab987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Urine cultures are nonspecific for infection and often lead to misdiagnosis of urinary tract infection and unnecessary antibiotics. Diagnostic stewardship is a set of procedures that modifies test ordering, processing, and reporting in order to optimize diagnosis and downstream treatment. This study aimed to develop expert guidance on best practices for urine culture diagnostic stewardship. METHODS A RAND-modified Delphi approach with a multidisciplinary expert panel was used to ascertain diagnostic stewardship best practices. Clinical questions to guide recommendations were grouped in three thematic areas (ordering, processing, reporting) in practice settings of emergency department, inpatient, ambulatory, and long-term care. Fifteen experts ranked recommendations on a 9-point Likert scale. Recommendations on which the panel did not reach agreement were discussed in a virtual meeting, and a then second round of ranking by email was completed. After secondary review of results and panel discussion, a series of guidance statements was developed. RESULTS 165 questions were reviewed with the panel reaching agreement on 104, leading to 18 overarching guidance statements. The following strategies were recommended to optimize ordering urine cultures: requiring documentation of symptoms, alerts to discourage ordering in the absence of symptoms, and cancelling repeat cultures. For urine culture processing, conditional reflex urine cultures and urine white blood cell as criteria were supported. For urine culture reporting, appropriate practices included nudges to discourage treatment under specific conditions and selective reporting of antibiotics to guide therapy decisions. CONCLUSIONS These 18 guidance statements can optimize use of the imperfect urine culture for better patient outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimberly C Claeys
- Infectious Diseases, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Barbara W Trautner
- Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness, and Safety (IQuESt), Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, TX.,Section of Health Services Research, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Surbhi Leekha
- Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - K C Coffey
- Associate Hospital Epidemiologist, VA Maryland Healthcare System, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Christopher J Crnich
- Chief of Medicine, Hospital Epidemiologist, William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Dan Diekema
- Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa Health Care, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Mohamad G Fakih
- Chief Quality Officer, Quality Department, Clinical & Network Services, Ascension Healthcare, Grosse Pointe Woods and Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA
| | - Matthew Bidwell Goetz
- Infectious Diseases Section, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Kalpana Gupta
- Associate Chief of Staff and Chief, Section of Infectious Diseases, VA Boston Healthcare System, of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Makoto M Jones
- Salt Lake City Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Internal Medicine - Associate Professor, Division of Epidemiology, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Luci Leykum
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas at Austin Dell School of Medicine, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Stephen Y Liang
- Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, John T. Milliken Department of Internal Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Lisa Pineles
- Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Ashley Pleiss
- Lead Clinical Nurse, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Emily S Spivak
- Co-Director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship, University of Utah Health and the Salt Lake City Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Katie J Suda
- VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Pittsburgh and the, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | | | - Chanu Rhee
- Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School/Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Associate Hospital Epidemiologist, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Daniel J Morgan
- Chief Hospital, VA Maryland Healthcare System, Epidemiologist Department of Epidemiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
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Chambliss AB, Van TT. Revisiting approaches to and considerations for urinalysis and urine culture reflexive testing. Crit Rev Clin Lab Sci 2021; 59:112-124. [PMID: 34663175 DOI: 10.1080/10408363.2021.1988048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Urinalysis is considered the world's oldest laboratory test. Today, many laboratories use macroscopic urinalysis as a screening tool to determine when to subject urine samples for a microscopic urinalysis and/or bacterial culture. While reflexive urine microscopy has been practiced for decades, and reflexive urine culture, more recently, evidence-based guidelines regarding optimal reflexive criteria and workflows are lacking. Standard approaches are hindered, in part, by a lack of harmonization of urinalysis and urine culture practices, heterogeneity in patient populations that are studied, and lack of provider adherence to recommended practices. This review summarizes studies that have evaluated the performance of reflexive urine microscopy and reflexive urine culture, particularly in the context of urinary tract infections. It also examines reported clinical outcomes from reflexive urinalysis interventions and their impact on antibiotic stewardship efforts. Finally, it discusses laboratory operational considerations for the implementation of reflexive algorithms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allison B Chambliss
- Department of Pathology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Department of Pathology, Los Angeles County + University of Southern California (LAC + USC) Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Tam T Van
- Kaiser Permanente Southern California Permanente Medical Group, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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Frontera JA, Wang E, Phillips M, Radford M, Sterling S, Delorenzo K, Saxena A, Yaghi S, Zhou T, Kahn DE, Lord AS, Weisstuch J. Protocolized Urine Sampling is Associated with Reduced Catheter-associated Urinary Tract Infections: A Pre- and Postintervention Study. Clin Infect Dis 2020; 73:e2690-e2696. [DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciaa1152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2020] [Accepted: 07/31/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Background
Standard urine sampling and testing techniques do not mitigate against detection of colonization, resulting in false positive catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI). We aimed to evaluate whether a novel protocol for urine sampling and testing reduces rates of CAUTI.
Methods
A preintervention and postintervention study with a contemporaneous control group was conducted at 2 campuses (test and control) of the same academic medical center. The test campus implemented a protocol requiring urinary catheter removal prior to urine sampling from a new catheter or sterile straight catheterization, along with urine bacteria and pyuria screening prior to culture. Primary outcomes were test campus CAUTI rates, compared between each 9-month pre- and postintervention epoch. Secondary outcomes included the percent reductions in CAUTI rates, compared between the test campus and a propensity score–matched cohort at the control campus.
Results
A total of 7991 patients from the test campus were included in the primary analysis, and 4264 were included in the propensity score–matched secondary analysis. In the primary analysis, the number of CAUTI cases per 1000 patients was reduced by 77% (6.6 to 1.5), the number of CAUTI cases per 1000 catheter days was reduced by 63% (5.9 to 2.2), and the number of urinary catheter days per patient was reduced by 37% (1.1 to 0.69; all P values ≤ .001). In the propensity score–matched analysis, the number of CAUTI cases per 1000 patients was reduced by 82% at the test campus, versus 57% at the control campus; the number of CAUTI cases per 1000 catheter days declined by 68% versus 57%, respectively; and the number of urinary catheter days per patient decreased by 44% versus 1%, respectively (all P values < .001).
Conclusions
Protocolized urine sampling and testing aimed at minimizing contamination by colonization was associated with significantly reduced CAUTI infection rates and urinary catheter days.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer A Frontera
- Department of Neurology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Erwin Wang
- Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Michael Phillips
- Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Martha Radford
- Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Stephanie Sterling
- Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Karen Delorenzo
- Department of Nursing, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Archana Saxena
- Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Shadi Yaghi
- Department of Neurology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Ting Zhou
- Department of Neurology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - D Ethan Kahn
- Department of Neurology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Aaron S Lord
- Department of Neurology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Joseph Weisstuch
- Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
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