Partnership among hospitals to reduce healthcare associated infections: a quasi-experimental study in Brazilian ICUs.

Background: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are relevant in developing countries where frequencies can be at least 3 times higher than in developed countries. The purpose of this research was to describe the intervention implemented in intensive care units (ICUs) to reduce HAIs through collaborative project and analyze the variation over 18 months in the incidence density (ID) of the three main HAIs: ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP), central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) and catheter-related urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) and also the length of stay and mortality in these ICUs.

Methods: A quasi-experimental study in five public adult clinical-surgical ICUs, to reduce HAIs, through interventions using the BTS-IHI "Improvement Model", during 18 months.