• Zhen Li, Xudong Ma, Sifa Gao, Qi Li, Hongbo Luo, Jianhua Sun, Wei Du, Longxiang Su, Lu Wang, Qing Zhang, Zunzhu Li, Xiang Zhou, Dawei Liu, and China National Critical Care Quality Control Center Group.
• Department of Critical Care Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100730, China.
• Crit Care. 2022 Jan 21; 26 (1): 24.

BackgroundHospital and ICU structural factors are key factors affecting the quality of care as well as ICU patient outcomes. However, the data from China are scarce. This study was designed to investigate how differences in patient outcomes are associated with differences in hospital and ICU structure variables in China throughout 2019.MethodsThis was a multicenter observational study. Data from a total of 2820 hospitals were collected using the National Clinical Improvement System Data that reports ICU information in China. Data collection consisted of a) information on the hospital and ICU structural factors, including the hospital type, number of beds, staffing, among others, and b) ICU patient outcomes, including the mortality rate as well as the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs), and catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs). Generalized linear mixed models were used to analyse the association between hospital and ICU structural factors and patient outcomes.ResultsThe median ICU patient mortality was 8.02% (3.78%, 14.35%), and the incidences of VAP, CRBSI, and CAUTI were 5.58 (1.55, 11.67) per 1000 ventilator days, 0.63 (0, 2.01) per 1000 catheter days, and 1.42 (0.37, 3.40) per 1000 catheter days, respectively. Mortality was significantly lower in public hospitals (β =  - 0.018 (- 0.031, - 0.005), p = 0.006), hospitals with an ICU-to-hospital bed percentage of more than 2% (β =  - 0.027 (- 0.034, -0.019), p < 0.001) and higher in hospitals with a bed-to-nurse ratio of more than 0.5:1 (β = 0.009 (0.001, 0.017), p = 0.027). The incidence of VAP was lower in public hospitals (β =  - 0.036 (- 0.054, - 0.018), p < 0.001). The incidence of CRBSIs was lower in public hospitals (β =  - 0.008 (- 0.014, - 0.002), p = 0.011) and higher in secondary hospitals (β = 0.005 (0.001, 0.009), p = 0.010), while the incidence of CAUTIs was higher in secondary hospitals (β = 0.010 (0.002, 0.018), p = 0.015).ConclusionThis study highlights the association between specific ICU structural factors and patient outcomes. Modifying structural factors is a potential opportunity that could improve patient outcomes in ICUs.© 2022. The Author(s).

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