Abstract:
OBJECTIVE To evaluate the direct economic burden of Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) infection in intensive care unit (ICU) patients through propensity score matching (PSM) and Generalized Linear Models (GLM), thereby providing evidence for optimizing hospital cost control and infection prevention strategies within the context of Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG) payment reform.
METHODS A total of 7 564 inpatients were enrolled from the ICU of Zigong First People's Hospital and Fushun People's Hospital between Jan. 2019 and Dec. 2024. They were divided into a CRAB-positive group (n=221) and a control group (n=7 343) based on the CRAB detection during hospitalization. PSM was adopted to perform 1:1 matching between the two groups, and the length of hospital stay and various hospitalization costs were compared between the groups. A generalized linear model was established to recalculate the Odds Ratios (OR) for total hospital days, ICU days and hospitalization costs in the matched cohorts.
RESULTS The detection rate of CRAB in ICU patients was 2.92% (221/7 564). PSM successfully matched 220 pairs.Analysis of the matched cohorts showed that the CRAB-positive group had a significantly longer median hospital stay (by 13.00 days, P<0.001) and higher median hospitalization costs (by RMB 56 597.51, a 106.31% increase, P<0.001) compared to the control group.The results of the GLM showed that the OR values of hospitalization days, ICU hospitalization days and hospitalization expenses in the CRAB-positive group compared to the control group were 2.020 (95%CI: 1.759−2.316), 2.255 (95%CI: 1.956−2.596) and 2.108 (95%CI: 1.936−2.298), respectively. The direct losses incurred by two hospitals due to hospital-acquired CRAB in the ICU from 2019 to 2024 amounted to RMB 511 200.
CONCLUSIONS By effectively controlling for confounding bias with PSM and GLM, this study confirms that hospital-acquired CRAB infection in the ICU significantly prolongs patient hospitalization and imposes a substantial direct economic burden.