Duration of hospital admission and the need for empirical antipseudomonal therapy.

To reduce selective pressure for antimicrobial resistance, empirical use of antipseudomonal antibiotics is often reserved for patients with late-onset hospital-acquired infections. We examined the likelihood of isolating Pseudomonas aeruginosa as a function of time from hospital admission. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all positive bacterial cultures in a tertiary-care hospital between March 2010 and November 2011. The primary outcome was the proportion of positive cultures yielding P. aeruginosa. Multivariable logistic regression was employed to assess the impact of time from admission on the likelihood of isolating P. aeruginosa, after adjusting for other important risk factors. A total of 7,668 positive cultures were obtained from 4,108 unique patients during the study interval, including 633 (8.3%) yielding P. aeruginosa. The probability of isolating P. aeruginosa increased linearly from 79/2,044 (3.9%) positive cultures obtained on admission to 153/664 (23%) in the 10th week of admission or beyond. The unadjusted odds ratio was 1.002/day (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0016 to 1.0028; P < 0.0001); the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) was 1.0007/day (95% CI, 1.0001 to 1.0013; P = 0.02). Other important predictors of P. aeruginosa isolation included respiratory specimen type (aOR, 13.8; 95% CI, 9.1 to 21.1), recent hospital admission (aOR,1.8; 95% CI, 1.4 to 2.3), prior P. aeruginosa isolation during current admission (aOR, 4.9; 95% CI, 3.7 to 6.4), and prior antipseudomonal (aOR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.4 to 2.5) or nonantipseudomonal (aOR, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.4 to 2.4) antibiotic exposure. It was determined that as time from admission increases, there is a linear increase in the likelihood of P. aeruginosa isolation. Any guidelines which distinguish early from late hospital-acquired infection must consider the implications of time point selection on the likelihood of inadequate P. aeruginosa empirical coverage.