Abstract
BACKGROUND: Healthcare-associated infection (HAI) is a serious threat to the safety of patients worldwide. The prevalence survey is widely used to explore and study the characteristics of HAI. However, the annual continuous prevalence survey of hospital-acquired infections has not been reported so far. AIM: This study is aimed at examining the occurrence and development trend of HAIs dynamically and accurately. METHODS: An annual continuous HAI prevalence survey based on the real-time monitoring system was conducted in representative hospitals from different regions in Shandong in China. Findings. A total of 64 hospitals participated in the survey, and 2,741,433 patients were monitored in 2018. The highest prevalence of HAIs in Shandong was 3.83% (February 15), the lowest was 1.85% (February 28), and the average was 2.45%. The percentile distribution of prevalence of HAIs in this study was as follows: P10, 2.23%; P25, 2.31%; P50, 2.41%; P75, 2.55%; and P90, 2.73%. CONCLUSION: This study dynamically and accurately showed the occurrence and development trend of HAIs in Shandong in 2018. The results of this study can be used as a reference for the HAI prevalence survey in various medical institutions in Shandong and provide the basis for the regional HAI prevention and control strategy.