Length of Stay Predictors for Infants Hospitalized with Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)

Younger age and preterm birth are among the clinical factors that predict a longer length of stay (LOS) for infants hospitalized with an urinary tract infection (UTI), according to Canadian researchers.

Researchers led by Patricia C. Parkin, MD, of The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, conducted a case-control study of 142 infants younger than 6 months hospitalized with UTI. They defined cases as infants who had a LOS of 96 hours or more and controls as those who had a LOS less than 96 hours. Each group had 71 patients.

Compared with controls, cases were significantly more likely to be younger (4.2 vs. 7.1 weeks) and to be born premature (13% vs. 3%), Dr. Parkin’s group reported in Hospital Pediatrics (2014;4:291-297). They also had a significantly longer duration of intravenous antibiotics (125 vs. 62 hours).

Compared with controls, cases were 7.6 times more likely to be premature, 7.3 times more likely to have known genitourinary disease, and 4.5 times more likely to have a VCUG ordered in the hospital, in adjusted analyses.

From the December 01, 2014 Issue of Renal and Urology News