Physician Awareness of the Presence of Foleys Catheters in Patients Hospitalized in a Community Teaching Hospital

Background: Urinary tract infections are one of the commonest nosocomial infections associated with increased morbidity and mortality as well as increase in health care cost. Catheter-associated Urinary tract Infections (CAUTI) play a pivotal role in nosocomial urinary tract infections. Lack of awareness among the physicians on the presence of Foleys catheter in their patients multiplies the risk. The aim of the study was to asses’ physicians’ awareness of the presence of urinary catheters in their patients. Methods: This study was conducted in an urban community teaching hospital. We selected patients admitted to the hospital 72 hours prior to investigation and randomly assigned them based on the presence (n=88) or absence (n=175) of Foley catheter. Attending physicians for those patients were then asked about their awareness of the urinary catheter status in these selected groups of patients on the third day. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the results. Outcomes of the presence of absence of catheters were not measured. Results: In the study group, 38% of physicians were not aware of the presence of Foleys catheter in their patients. Therefore, we can conclude that there is a significant lack of awareness of the presence of urinary catheter in patients among physicians involved in the study.