This study employed a prospective, observational methodology; multiple cohorts were identified to achieve study objectives. First, to examine the effectiveness of the EUDFA, we prospectively studied 50 critically ill female patients hospitalized in either the intensive care unit (ICU) or progressive care unit of a large Midwestern academic hospital between December 2019 and April 2021. Adult (aged >18 years) females who were receiving inpatient critical or progressive care, incontinent of urine, unable to self-toilet, and using the EUDFA as defined by the study protocol were eligible. Those with an indwelling urinary catheter were excluded from this cohort.
We also examined trends in the rates of indwelling urinary catheter use, CAUTIs, UI, and IAD using a quasi-experimental, retrospective, cross-sectional comparison of male and female patients cared for in the critical care units of the same hospital during 2016, 2018, and 2019. These years were chosen to reflect periods before (2016) and after (2018, 2019) introduction of the EUDFA. For this portion of the study, all adult (male or female) patients who were receiving inpatient critical or progressive level of care for any amount of time during the study month were eligible (available data did not allow us to limit data capture to female patients). Catheter use and CAUTI rates were calculated using a full year of data. Incontinence and IAD data are not collected every month; in reviewing the available data, it was discovered that a particular month contained complete data for each of the observation years. Therefore, a decision was made to examine UI and IAD during that same month in each year.
We also examined trends in the rates of indwelling urinary catheter use, CAUTIs, UI, and IAD using a quasi-experimental, retrospective, cross-sectional comparison of male and female patients cared for in the critical care units of the same hospital during 2016, 2018, and 2019. These years were chosen to reflect periods before (2016) and after (2018, 2019) introduction of the EUDFA. For this portion of the study, all adult (male or female) patients who were receiving inpatient critical or progressive level of care for any amount of time during the study month were eligible (available data did not allow us to limit data capture to female patients). Catheter use and CAUTI rates were calculated using a full year of data. Incontinence and IAD data are not collected every month; in reviewing the available data, it was discovered that a particular month contained complete data for each of the observation years. Therefore, a decision was made to examine UI and IAD during that same month in each year.
