Prevalence and causes of fever at intensive care unit and its association with demographic characteristics

The aim of this study was to determine prevalence and causes of fever in hospitalizedpatients at intensive care unit (ICU) and its associations with the demographic characteristics. Fever is a common problem. About 70% of hospitalized patients in the ICU have fever، which can lead to increased mortality rate in them. This descriptive analytical study was conducted on 110 patients in the Intensive Care Units of Sanandaj educational hospitals who had no fever on arrival in the ICU and had a higher temperature than the 38. 3°C، after 24 hours. Data were collected from March to July 2008 by a standard questionnaire which completed and coded by the researcher. The data were analyzed by using SPSS software. The findings showed that the infectious causes of fever were respectively infections caused by catheter (38. 02%)، ventilator associated pneumonia (34. 5%) and complications caused by wounds infections (14. 5%); also the majority of non-infectious causes of fever were due to aspiration pneumonia (29. 1%). The Chi-square test showed statistically significant correlations of age (P<0. 01)، duration of hospitalization (P<0. 05) and the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) of patients (P <0. 01) with fever. Fever incidence in the ICU patients is a relatively common complication. In this study، the frequency of this complication is similar or even lower than studies done in other areas and indicates that، despite of lower health care facilities in the study area، theprinciplesof infection control and patient care has been considered.