Classification of healthcare-associated infection: a systematic review 10 years after the first proposal.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Ten years after the first proposal, a consensus definition of healthcare-associated infection (HCAI) has not been reached, preventing the development of specific treatment recommendations. A systematic review of all definitions of HCAI used in clinical studies is made.

Methods

The search strategy focused on an HCAI definition. MEDLINE, SCOPUS and ISI Web of Knowledge were searched for articles published from earliest achievable data until November 2012. Abstracts from scientific meetings were searched for relevant abstracts along with a manual search of references from reports, earlier reviews and retrieved studies.

Results

The search retrieved 49,405 references: 15,311 were duplicates and 33,828 were excluded based on title and abstract. Of the remaining 2

SUBMITTER: Cardoso T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4016612 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature