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Background To analyse whether the availability of written standards for management of mechanically ventilated patients and/or the existence of a surveillance system for cases of ventilationassociated pneumonia (VAP) are positively associated with compliance with 6 wellestablished VAP prevention measures. Methods Ecological study based on responses to an online-questionnaire completed by 1730 critical care physicians. Replies were received from 77 different countries, of which the majority, i.e. 1351, came from 36 European countries. Results On a cross-country level, compliance with VAP prevention measures is higher in countries with a large number of prevention standards and/or VAP surveillance systems in place at ICU level., Likewise, implementation of standards and VAP surveillance systems has a significant impact on self-reported total compliance with VAP prevention measures (both p < 0.001). Moreover, predictions of overall prevention measure compliance show the effect size of the availability of written standards and existence of surveillance system. For instance, a female physician with 10 years of experience in critical care working in a 15-bed ICU in France has a predicted baseline level of VAP prevention measure compliance of 63 per cent. This baseline level increases by 9.5 percentage points (p < 0.001) if a written clinical VAP prevention standard is available in the ICU, and by another 4 percentage points (p < 0.001) if complemented by a VAP surveillance system. Conclusions The existence of written standards for management of mechanically ventilated patients in an ICU and the availability of VAP surveillance systems have shown to be positively associated with compliance with VAP prevention measures and should be fostered on a policy level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge of the occurrence and outcome of admissions to Intensive Care Units (ICU) over time is important to inform healthcare services planning. This observational study aims at describing the activity of French ICUs between 2013 and 2019. Patient admission characteristics, organ dysfunction scores, therapies, ICU and hospital lengths of stay and case fatality were collected from the French National Hospital Database (population-based cohort). Logistic regression models were developed to investigate the association between age, sex, SAPS II, organ failure, and year of care on in-ICU case fatality. Among 1,594,801 ICU admissions, the yearly ICU admission increased from 3.3 to 3.5 per year per 1000 inhabitants (bed occupancy rate between 83.4 and 84.3%). The mean admission SAPS II was 42 ± 22, with a gradual annual increase. The median lengths of stay in ICU and in hospital were 3 (interquartile range (IQR) = [1–7]) and 11 days (IQR = [6–21]), respectively, with a progressive decrease over time. The in-ICU and hospital mortality case fatalities decreased from 18.0% to 17.1% and from 21.1% to 19.9% between 2013 and 2019, respectively. Male sex, age, SAPS II score, and the occurrence of any organ failure were associated with a higher case fatality rate. After adjustment on age, sex, SAPS II and organ failure, in-ICU case fatality decreased in 2019 as compared to 2013 (adjusted Odds Ratio = 0.87 [95% confidence interval, 0.85–0.89]). During the study, an increasing incidence of ICU admission was associated with higher severity of illness but lower in-ICU case fatality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A secondary analysis of a prospective multicenter cohort was performed in six intensive care units (ICU) in four European countries (France, Greece, Spain and Turkey). The main objective was to identify factors associated with ventilator-associated events (VAEs) in adults who underwent mechanical ventilation (MV) ≥ 48 h. Secondary objectives were to identify: variables influencing VAE in the subpopulation with endotracheal intubation and in those subjects who were ventilated > 7 days. Subjects who had undergone MV ≥ 48 h were included. In subjects with multiple episodes of MV, only the first one was eligible. The adult definitions for VAEs were adjusted to the 2015 update of the CDC's 2013 National Healthcare Safety Network Association. Factors associated with VAE were estimated through multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis. Among 163 adults (42 tracheostomies), 76 VAEs (34.9 VAEs/1,000 ventilator-days) were documented: 9 were Ventilator-Associated Conditions (VAC) and 67 Infection-related Ventilator-Associated Complications (IVAC)-plus (9 only IVAC and 58 Possible Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia). VAEs developed after a median of 6 days (interquartile range: 4-9). VAEs were independently associated with long-acting sedative/analgesic drugs (Hazard Ratio [HR]: 4.30), selective digestive decontamination (SDD) (HR: 0.38), and surgical/trauma admission (HR: 2.30). Among 116 subjects with endotracheal tube, SDD (HR: 0.21) and surgical/trauma admission (HR: 3.11) remained associated with VAE. Among 102 subjects ventilated >7 days, only long-acting sedative/analgesic agents (HR: 8.69) remained independently associated with VAE. In summary, SDD implementation and long-acting analgesic/sedative agents restriction prescription may prevent early and late VAEs, respectively. Bundles developed to prevent VAEs should include these two interventions.