Post-discharge follow-up of hospital-associated infections in paediatric patients with conventional questionnaires and electronic surveillance

SummaryBackgroundViral infections are common causes of hospital-associated infections (HAIs) in paediatric patients, with most of these infections only becoming evident after discharge.AimTo analyse the benefits and costs of conventional and electronic surveillance methods for conducting HAI follow-ups.MethodsA comparison was made between response rate, time required per patient and costs to the healthcare system of conventional and electronic surveillance methods (sms, e-mail, telephone call).FindingsAltogether 1927 patients participated in the conventional followed up in 2001–2003, of whom 1175 (61%) returned the questionnaire; during the electronic surveillance period in 2005–2007, 2309 patients were followed-up in hospital, and 1940 of them (84%) returned the post-discharge information to us. The time needed by HCWs was 33 min per patient in the conventional follow-up and 13 min in the electronic follow-up, the total costs per patient being €15.07 and €13.61 respectively. A decrease of 17.1% in annual expenses was achieved with the electronic follow-up. The incidence of HAI was 8.4% in the conventional period and 12.2% in the electronic surveillance period, most cases becoming symptomatic after hospitalization.ConclusionElectronic data collection was a convenient way of implementing a continuous HAI follow-up, achieving both a higher participation rate and lower costs.