SynthesisCritical care (London, England)2016
Chlorhexidine bathing and health care-associated infections among adult intensive care patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Critical care (London, England), 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 95 citations in OpenAlex.
- The burden and predictors of hospital-acquired infection in intensive care units across Sub-Sahara Africa: systematic review and metanalysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Pooled it
- [Effect of 2% Chlorhexidine Bathing on the Incidence of Hospital-Acquired Infection and Multidrug-Resistant Organisms in Adult Intensive Care Unit Patients: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis].Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing · 2021Pooled it
- Chlorhexidine bathing of the critically ill for the prevention of hospital-acquired infection.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- The impact of chlorhexidine bathing on hospital-acquired bloodstream infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2019Pooled it
- Evidence for the effectiveness of chlorhexidine bathing and health care-associated infections among adult intensive care patients: a trial sequential meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2018Pooled it
- Octenidine or Sterile Water Cleansing and Late-Onset Sepsis in Neonates in the NICU: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2026Trial
- Central-line associated bloodstream infections in intensive care units before and after implementation of daily antiseptic bathing with chlorhexidine or octenidine: a post-hoc analysis of a cluster-randomised controlled trial.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Prevention of arterial catheter-related bloodstream infections: current evidence and future directions.Critical care (London, England) · 2026Review
- Universal decolonization for methicillin-resistantPublic health in practice (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Practice guideline on the prevention and treatment of central line-associated bloodstream infection: Part 2 - Treatment.Journal of intensive medicine · 2026Article
- Long-Term Daily Chlorhexidine Foot Cleansing Reduces Staphylococcal Burden on the Feet of People with Prior Diabetic Foot Complications.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Isolation and identification of Klebsiella pneumoniae phage ΦK2046: optimizing its antibacterial potential in combination with chlorhexidine.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2025Article
- Chlorhexidine Gluconate Treatment Adherence Among Nurses and Patients to Reduce Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections.Clinical journal of oncology nursing · 2025Review
- Implementation of 2% Chlorhexidine Bathing to Reduce Healthcare-Associated Infections Among Patients in the Intensive Care Unit.Microorganisms · 2025Article
- Clinical Evidence for the Use of Octenidine Dihydrochloride to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections and DecreasePathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- [Update of the recommendations of the Bacteraemia Zero Project].Enfermeria intensiva · 2022Review
- The Impact of Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infection Control Interventions onAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Clinical impact of and microbiological risk factors for qacA/B positivity in ICU-acquired ST5-methicillin-resistant SCCmec type II Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Catheter-associated urinary tract infection reduction in critical care units: a bundled care model.BMJ open quality · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHealth care-associated infections (HAI) have been shown to increase length of stay, the cost of care, and rates of hospital deaths (Kaye and Marchaim, J Am Geriatr Soc 62(2):306-11, 2014; Roberts and Scott, Med Care 48(11):1026-35, 2010; Warren and Quadir, Crit Care Med 34(8):2084-9, 2006; Zimlichman and Henderson, JAMA Intern Med 173(22):2039-46, 2013). Importantly, infections acquired during a hospital stay have been shown to be preventable (Loveday and Wilson, J Hosp Infect 86:S1-70, 2014). In particular, due to more invasive procedures, mechanical ventilation, and critical illness, patients cared for in the intensive care unit (ICU) are at greater risk of HAI and associated poor outcomes. This meta-analysis aims to summarise the effectiveness of chlorhexidine (CHG) bathing, in adult intensive care patients, to reduce infection.
methodsA systematic literature search was undertaken to identify trials assessing the effectiveness of CHG bathing to reduce risk of infection, among adult intensive care patients. Infections included were: bloodstream infections; central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI); catheter-associated urinary tract infections; ventilator-associated pneumonia; methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA); vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus; and Clostridium difficile. Summary estimates were calculated as incidence rate ratios (IRRs) and 95% confidence/credible intervals. Variation in study designs was addressed using hierarchical Bayesian random-effects models.
resultsSeventeen trials were included in our final analysis: seven of the studies were cluster-randomised crossover trials, and the remaining studies were before-and-after trials. CHG bathing was estimated to reduce the risk of CLABSI by 56% (Bayesian random effects IRR = 0.44 (95% credible interval (CrI), 0.26, 0.75)), and MRSA colonisation and bacteraemia in the ICU by 41% and 36%, respectively (IRR = 0.59 (95% CrI, 0.36, 0.94); and IRR = 0.64 (95% CrI, 0.43, 0.91)). The numbers needed to treat for these specific ICU infections ranged from 360 (CLABSI) to 2780 (MRSA bacteraemia).
conclusionThis meta-analysis of the effectiveness of CHG bathing to reduce infections among adults in the ICU has found evidence for the benefit of daily bathing with CHG to reduce CLABSI and MRSA infections. However, the effectiveness may be dependent on the underlying baseline risk of these events among the given ICU population. Therefore, CHG bathing appears to be of the most clinical benefit when infection rates are high for a given ICU population.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.