Background  

Hospitalized patients frequently have urinary catheters inserted for inappropriate reasons. This can lead to urinary tract infections and other complications.

Objective  

To assess whether stop orders for indwelling urinary catheters reduces the duration of inappropriate urinary catheterization and the incidence of urinary tract infections.

Design  

A randomized controlled trial was conducted in three tertiary-care hospitals in Ontario, Canada. Patients with indwelling urinary catheters were randomized to prewritten orders for the removal of urinary catheters if specified criteria were not present or to usual care.

Participants  

Six hundred ninety-two hospitalized patients admitted to hospital with indwelling urinary catheters inserted for ≤48 h.

Measurements  

The main outcomes included days of inappropriate indwelling catheter use, total days of catheter use, frequency of urinary tract infection, and catheter reinsertions.

Results  

There were fewer days of inappropriate and total urinary catheter use in the stop-order group than in the usual care group (difference −1.69 [95% CI −1.23 to −2.15], P < 0.001 and −1.34 days, [95% CI, −0.64 to −2.05 days], P < 0.001, respectively). Urinary tract infections occurred in 19.0% of the stop-order group and 20.2% of the usual care group, relative risk 0.94 (95% CI, 0.66 to 1.33), P = 0.71. Catheter reinsertion occurred in 8.6% of the stop-order group and 7.0% in the usual care group, relative risk 1.23 (95% CI, 0.72 to 2.11), P = 0.45.

Conclusions  

Stop orders for urinary catheterization safely reduced duration of inappropriate urinary catheterization in hospitalized patients but did not reduce urinary tract infections.