Patient characteristics comparing baseline (first) year (before interventions) with third and fourth years (following introduction of interventions)
| Preinterventions baseline year 1 (1 September 2005 to 31 August 2006) | Year 3 (1 September 2007 to 31 August 2008) | Statistical test results comparing year 1 with year 3 | Year 4 (1 September 2008 to 31 August 2009) | Statistical test results comparing year 1 with year 4 | |
| Total patients admitted to ICU | 439 | 465 | 358 | ||
| Percentage of patients ventilated | 69 | 74 | 73 | ||
| Median LOS | 2.2 | 2.5 | p=0.18‡ | 2.3 | p=0.72‡ |
| ICU death rate (%) | 20 | 22 | p=0.48* | 22.6 | p=0.38* |
| Study group | 255 | 235 | 225 | ||
| Male | 143 (56.1%) | 127 (56.2%) | 125 (55.5%) | ||
| Deaths | 54 (21.2%) | 49 (21.7%) | p=0.328* | 36 (16%) | p=0.013* |
| Mean APACHE II (SD) | 19.8 (8.4) | 21.0 (7.3) | p=0.89† | 18.7 (8.7) | p=0.38† |
| Median LOS (Q1, Q3) | 9.7 days (4, 20) | 8.9 days (4, 13) | p=0.64§ | 6.0 (3, 11) | p=0.63§ |
| Mean LOS (SD) | 5.4 days (3.9) | 5.3 (3.7) | p=0.65‡ | 5.9 days (3.7) | p=0.13‡ |
| No of patients with CVC (%) | 240 (93) | 226 (82) | p=1 | 178 (79) | p=1 |
| Days' duration CVC, mean (SD) | 4.94 (4.11) | 6.11 (3.6) | p<0.001‡ | 9.6 (8.46) | p<0.001‡ |
| Site of CVCs | |||||
| Internal Jugular (%) | 332 (80.2) | 283 (89.3) | p<0.01* | 227 (91.1) | p<0.01* |
| Subclavian (%) | 63 (15.2) | 24 (7.6) | p<0.01* | 15 (6.02) | p<0.01* |
| Femoral (%) | 19 (4.6) | 10 (3.1) | p>0.33* | 7 (2.81) | p<0.01* |
| Total CVCs used | 414 | 317 | p<0.01* | 249 | p<0.01* |
Interventions commenced halfway through year 2 and continued iteratively until the end of year 4.
↵* χ2 Test.
↵† f Test.
↵‡ t Test.
↵§ Mann–Whitney U test.
APACHE II, Acute Physiological and Chronic Health Evaluation Version II; LOS, length of stay; Study group, patients who had a central venous catheter (CVC) during part or whole of admission and were in intensive care unit (ICU) for more than 2 calendar days.