Abstract:
Ventilator-associated pneumonia refers to pneumonia that develops in patients
receiving mechanical ventilation for at least 48 hours. It is associated with an increased duration
of mechanical ventilation, longer stays in the intensive care unit, and higher mortality. The
prevalence ranges from 10 to 25% in tertiary care hospitals, but can reach as high as 76% in
certain settings and high mortality. This study aims to examine the prevalence and associated
factors of ventilator-associated pneumonia to implement more effective preventive measures and
reduce morbidity and mortality.
Objective: To assess the prevalence and associated factors of ventilator-associated pneumonia in
intubated patients at the Hiwot Fana and Harme Intensive Care Units from December 23, 2024 to
January 10, 2025.
Method: Institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 171 intubated patients
on invasive mechanical ventilation for more than 48 hours at Hiwot Fana Comprehensive
Specialized Hospital (Harme and Hiwot fana intensive care units) from January 1, 2021, to June
30, 2024. Data were collected from patient charts using a structured checklist, which were
pretested before use. The data from Kobotool box was then exported to STATA version 17 for
cleaning and analysis. Adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated and
associated factors with a p-value less than 0.05 were considered significant.
Results: Overall 171 study participants were included in this study, 46 developed VentilatorAssociated Pneumonia during their intensive care unit stay, resulting in a prevalence of 26.90%
(95% CI: 21.03% -32.77%) The total ventilator days were found to be 1976 days; the median
ventilator-days were 7 days with a minimum of 3 days and a maximum of 120 days. Based on
onset, 9(19.6%) patients had early onset Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia and the remaining 37 (80.4%) had late onset Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia. Blood transfusion (adjusted odds ratio
(AHR): 2.68, 95% CI: 1.03–4.98; P = 0.042), Tracheostomy (AHR: 0.28, 95% CI: 0.08–0.75; P
=0.014), and increased duration of MV (AHR: 4.1, 95% CI: 1.49–10.32; P = 0.005) were
significantly associated with the development of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia.
Conclusions: Nearly one-fourth of the participants developed ventilator-associated pneumonia.
Blood transfusion, tracheostomy and duration of mechanical ventilation were significantly
associated with ventilator-associated pneumonia.
