Skip to main content
Journal cover image

Incidence and predictors of microbiology results returning postdischarge and requiring follow-up.

Publication ,  Journal Article
El-Kareh, R; Roy, C; Brodsky, G; Perencevich, M; Poon, EG
Published in: Journal of hospital medicine
May 2011

Failure to follow up microbiology results pending at discharge can delay appropriate treatment, increasing the risk of patient harm and litigation. Limited data describe the frequency of postdischarge microbiology results requiring a treatment change.To determine the incidence and predictors of postdischarge microbiology results requiring follow-up.Cross-sectional.Large academic hospital during 2007.We evaluated blood, urine, sputum, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cultures ordered for hospitalized patients. We identified cultures that returned postdischarge and determined which were clinically important and not treated by an antibiotic to which they were susceptible. We reviewed a random subset to assess the potential need for antibiotic change. Using logistic regression, we identified significant predictors of results requiring follow-up.Of 77,349 inpatient culture results, 8668 (11%) returned postdischarge. Of these, 385 (4%) were clinically important and untreated at discharge. Among 94 manually reviewed cases, 53% potentially required a change in therapy. Urine cultures were more likely to potentially require therapy change than non-urine cultures (OR 2.8, 95% CI 1.1-7.2; P = 0.03). Also, 76% of 25 results from surgical services potentially required a therapy change, compared with 59% of 29 results from general medicine, 38% of 16 results from oncology, and 33% of 24 results from medical subspecialties. Overall, 2.4% of postdischarge cultures potentially necessitated an antibiotic change.Many microbiology results return postdischarge and some necessitate a change in treatment. These results arise from many specialties, suggesting the need for a hospital-wide system to ensure effective communication of these results.

Duke Scholars

Altmetric Attention Stats
Dimensions Citation Stats

Published In

Journal of hospital medicine

DOI

EISSN

1553-5606

ISSN

1553-5592

Publication Date

May 2011

Volume

6

Issue

5

Start / End Page

291 / 296

Related Subject Headings

  • Treatment Outcome
  • Secondary Prevention
  • Risk Factors
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Patient Discharge
  • Patient Admission
  • Middle Aged
  • Microbiological Techniques
  • Male
  • Incidence
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
El-Kareh, R., Roy, C., Brodsky, G., Perencevich, M., & Poon, E. G. (2011). Incidence and predictors of microbiology results returning postdischarge and requiring follow-up. Journal of Hospital Medicine, 6(5), 291–296. https://doi.org/10.1002/jhm.895
El-Kareh, Robert, Christopher Roy, Gregor Brodsky, Molly Perencevich, and Eric G. Poon. “Incidence and predictors of microbiology results returning postdischarge and requiring follow-up.Journal of Hospital Medicine 6, no. 5 (May 2011): 291–96. https://doi.org/10.1002/jhm.895.
El-Kareh R, Roy C, Brodsky G, Perencevich M, Poon EG. Incidence and predictors of microbiology results returning postdischarge and requiring follow-up. Journal of hospital medicine. 2011 May;6(5):291–6.
El-Kareh, Robert, et al. “Incidence and predictors of microbiology results returning postdischarge and requiring follow-up.Journal of Hospital Medicine, vol. 6, no. 5, May 2011, pp. 291–96. Epmc, doi:10.1002/jhm.895.
El-Kareh R, Roy C, Brodsky G, Perencevich M, Poon EG. Incidence and predictors of microbiology results returning postdischarge and requiring follow-up. Journal of hospital medicine. 2011 May;6(5):291–296.
Journal cover image

Published In

Journal of hospital medicine

DOI

EISSN

1553-5606

ISSN

1553-5592

Publication Date

May 2011

Volume

6

Issue

5

Start / End Page

291 / 296

Related Subject Headings

  • Treatment Outcome
  • Secondary Prevention
  • Risk Factors
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Patient Discharge
  • Patient Admission
  • Middle Aged
  • Microbiological Techniques
  • Male
  • Incidence