Surveillance cultures in adult intensive care units: incidence and factors associated with positivity

Objective: to verify the incidence of multidrug-resistant microorganisms and the factors associated with the positivity of surveillance cultures in an Adult Intensive Care Unit. Methods: retrospective analytical cross-sectional study, carried out in the Adult Intensive Care Unit of a university hospital in a capital in the Brazilian center-west between January and December 2018. Results: a study included 231 patients, with 84 (36.36%) monitored by admission surveillance cultures. Of these, 64.28% were not colonized by multidrug-resistant microorganisms. The incidence of positivity for multidrug-resistant microorganisms was 35.70%, with Klebsiella pneumoniae producing carbapenemase (KPC) being the most prevalent phenotypic profile, accounting for 26.60%. Factors associated with positive admission surveillance cultures included intubated or tracheostomized patients (p=0.0182; OR=4.2373; 95% CI) and patients who had been hospitalized in another healthcare facility for more than five days (p=0.0397). Conclusion: detecting patients colonized by multidrug-resistant microorganisms can contribute to the adoption and reinforcement of good practices aimed at preventing infections and patient safety