Tracking Epidemiological Characteristics and Risk Factors of Multi-Drug Resistant Bacteria in Intensive Care Units

OBJECTIVES: Multi-drug resistance (MDR) emerged as a serious threat in intensive care unit (ICU) settings. Our study aimed to investigate the major pathogens in ICU and identify the risk factors for MDR infection. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of patients admitted to the ICU. Multivariate logistic regression was applied to identify the independent predictors, and then a nomogram to predict the probability of MDR infection. RESULTS: A total of 278 patients with 483 positive cultures were included. 249 (51.55%) had at least one MDR pathogen, including extensively drug-resistant (XDR) 77 (30.92%) and pan drug-resistant (PDR) 39 (15.66%), respectively. Klebsiella pneumonia was the most frequently isolated pathogen. We identified the number of bacteria (OR 2.91, 95% CI 1.97–4.29, P < 0.001), multiple invasive procedures (OR 2.23, 95% CI 1.37–3.63, P = 0.001), length of stay (LOS) (OR 1.01, 95% CI 1.00–1.02, P = 0.007), Hemoglobin (Hb) (OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.98–1.00, P = 0.01) were independent risk factors for MDR infection. Our nomogram displayed good discrimination with curve AUC was 0.75 (95% CI: 0.70–0.81). The decision curves also indicate the clinical utility of our nomogram. Additionally, the in-hospital mortality with MDR pathogens was independently associated with XDR (HR, 2.60; 95% CI: 1.08–6.25; P = 0.03) and total protein (TP) (HR, 0.95; 95% CI: 0.91–0.99; P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: The number of bacteria, multiple invasive procedures, LOS, and Hb were the independent predictors associated with MDR pathogens. Our nomogram is potentially useful for predicting the occurrence of MDR infection. Besides, we also identify XDR and TP as the independent risk factors for in-hospital mortality with MDR infection. The current prevalence of MDR strains was also described. The results will contribute to the identification and preventive management of patients at increased risk of infection.