Multifaceted Quality Improvement Interventions to Prevent Hemodialysis Catheter-Related Bloodstream Infections: A Systematic Review.

RATIONALE & OBJECTIVE: Central venous catheters (CVCs) are widely used for hemodialysis but are prone to burdensome and costly bloodstream infections. We determined whether multifaceted quality improvement interventions in hemodialysis units can prevent hemodialysis catheter-related bloodstream infections (HDCRBSI).

STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review.

SETTING & STUDY POPULATIONS: PubMed, EMBASE, and CENTRAL were searched from inception to April 23, 2022, to identify randomized trials, time-series analyses, and before-after studies that examined the effect of multifaceted quality improvement interventions on the incidence of HDCRBSI or access-related bloodstream infections (ARBSI) among people receiving hemodialysis outside of the intensive care unit (ICU).

DATA EXTRACTION: Two people independently extracted data and assessed the risk of bias and quality of evidence using validated tools.

ANALYTICAL APPROACH: Intervention effects, validity, and characteristics of studies with the same design were compared. Differences between study designs were described.

RESULTS: We included 21 studies from 8,824 identified by our search. Among 15 studies that measured HDCRBSI, 2 methodologically heterogenous cluster randomized trials reported discordant intervention effects, 2 interrupted time-series analyses reported favorable interventions with discordant patterns of effect, and 11 before-after studies reported favorable interventions with a very high risk of bias. Among 6 studies that only measured ARBSI, 1 time-series analysis and 1 before-after study did not find a favorable intervention effect, and 4 before-after studies reported a favorable effect with a very high risk of bias. The overall quality of evidence was low for HDCRBSI and very low for ARBSI.

LIMITATIONS: Nine definitions of HDCRBSI were used. Ten studies included hospital-based and satellite facilities but did not report separate intervention effects for each type of facility.

CONCLUSIONS: Multifaceted quality improvement interventions may prevent HDCRBSI outside the ICU. However, evidence supporting them is of low quality, and further carefully conducted studies are warranted.

REGISTRATION: Registered at PROSPERO with registration number CRD42021252290.

PLAIN-LANGUAGE SUMMARY: People with kidney failure rely on central venous catheters to facilitate life-sustaining hemodialysis treatments. Unfortunately, hemodialysis catheters are a common source of problematic bloodstream infections. Quality improvement programs have effectively prevented catheter-related infections in intensive care units, but it is unclear whether they can be adapted to patients using hemodialysis catheters in the community. In a systematic review that included 21 studies, we found that most quality improvement programs were reported to be successful. However, the findings were mixed among higher-quality studies, and overall the quality of evidence was low. Ongoing quality improvement programs should be complemented by more high-quality research.