| From the Divisions of General (2008) | |||||||||||||
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| Background: Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (UTI) is associated with increased morbidity, mortality, and costs. A recent meta-analysis concluded that silver alloy catheters reduce the incidence of UTI by 3-fold; however, clinicians must decide whether the efficacy of such catheters is worth the extra per unit cost of $5.30. Objective: To assess the clinical and economic impact of using silver alloy urinary catheters in hospitalized patients. Methods: The decision model, performed from the health care payer’s perspective, evaluated a simulated cohort of 1000 hospitalized patients on general medical, surgical, urologic, and intensive care services requiring shortterm urethral catheterization (2-10 days). We compared 2 catheterization strategies: silver alloy catheters and standard (noncoated) urinary catheters. Outcomes included the incidence of symptomatic UTI and bacteremia and direct medical costs. | |||||||||||||
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