Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia (VAP)

Read the assigned article carefully and answer the related questions based on the specific
information outlined in the epidemiologic study.
Prologue: You have been assigned to a multidisciplinary sub-committee at your hospital to address the persistently high rates of VAPs among patients on your intensive care units (ICUs). VAP rates at your facility remain significantly higher than the national and statewide averages as well as several other competing regional medical centers. In order to tackle this problem the Vice President of Quality Management has enrolled the hospital in a Partnership for Patients collaborative. You are tasked to research the latest evidencebased guidance for VAP reduction and present your findings at the next Patient Safety Committee (PSC) meeting.
In researching potential strategies to reduce the morbidity and mortality from VAPs at your hospital, you came across the article in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology written by Berenholtz et al as well as additional evidence-based references that address VAP reduction.
2 Use the information described in the general reference documents pertaining to the Partnership for Patients initiative as well as the study by Berenholtz et al to answer the following questions:
Q1. How was the cohort of the study defined? Characterize the cohort using the descriptive
epidemiologic elements of person, place, and time.
Q2. How were the exposure groups determined? What definitions were used to determine the
selected exposures?
Q3. What was the primary outcome measure analyzed in this study to determine the efficacy of the
intervention(s) that were implemented? How was this outcome measure defined?
Q4. Based on the data displayed in Table 2, how did the study interventions affect VAP rates? Were
these findings statistically-significant or not? How can you determine the level of significance? Explain
your answer.
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