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Study design graphic representation.

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posted on 2018-07-12, 17:35 authored by Elisabetta Caselli, Silvio Brusaferro, Maddalena Coccagna, Luca Arnoldo, Filippo Berloco, Paola Antonioli, Rosanna Tarricone, Gabriele Pelissero, Silvano Nola, Vincenza La Fauci, Alessandro Conte, Lorenzo Tognon, Giovanni Villone, Nelso Trua, Sante Mazzacane

Six Italian hospitals from different geographical regions were enrolled in the study (North: Feltre, Tolmezzo, Vigevano; Centre: Rome; South: Foggia, Messina). Five hospitals were randomly allocated in two Intervention groups (I1, I2) and one further hospital represented an external control (extC): I1-group included Roma, Foggia and Feltre hospitals, entering the study on January 1st 2016; I2-group included Vigevano and Tolmezzo hospitals, entering 5-months later, on May 1st 2016; extC hospital was represented by Messina hospital, receiving no intervention and monitored from May 1st 2016. The phases of the study are indicated by colours: orange, 6-months pre-intervention period (pre-PCHS); light green, stabilization period, when PCHS was introduced; green, 6-months post-intervention period (PCHS), when PCHS was routinely applied. Sampling campaigns for microbiological analyses are indicated by circles: conventional microbiological analyses were performed monthly (black circles), and molecular analyses were performed quarterly (red circles) in all enrolled hospitals.

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