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Many hospitals still lax on catheter-related UTI prevention, 2 decades of data show
News briefToday at 2:53 p.m.
Mary Van Beusekom, MS
Topics
Healthcare-Associated Infections
While more US hospitals are recognizing that urinary catheters pose a risk of urinary tract infections (UTIs) and better monitoring their use, less than half have a catheter-reminder system for physicians, a study based on 20 years of surveys concludes.
For the study, published in JAMA Network Open, researchers at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Ann Arbor Healthcare System and the University of Michigan evaluated systems to prevent catheter-associated UTIs (CAUTIs) using national surveys of 1,461 hospitals from 2005 to 2025.
Every four years, a survey was sent to all VA hospitals and to a random sample of nonfederal hospitals with intensive care units. Hospitals were included in the dataset if they completed at least one survey.
Experts recommend placing indwelling urinary catheters only when necessary, aseptically inserting catheters, removing them when no longer needed, and using alternatives (ie, intermittent or external catheters) when possible.
VA hospitals lag in most measures
In non-federal hospitals, regular use of urinary catheter reminders or stop orders rose from 9.1% in 2005 to 48.7% in 2025, and nurse-initiated catheter discontinuation grew from 11.3% in 2009 to 58.3% in 2025.Our findings are a reminder that progress is not self-sustaining.
Sanjay Saint, MD, MPH
At VA hospitals, urinary catheter reminders or stop orders were in place in 11.1% in 2005 and 31.5% in 2025, with nurse-initiated discontinuation in 14.5% in 2009 and 37.8% in 2025.
The use of external catheters rose steeply, especially in women, reaching 62.6% at nonfederal facilities and 41.1% at VA hospitals by 2025. CAUTI surveillance systems were in place in nearly all hospitals by the end of the study (98.1% of non-federal and 98.7% of VA centers).
“Our findings are a reminder that progress is not self-sustaining,” lead author Sanjay Saint, MD, MPH, said in a University of Michigan news release. “The most effective strategies–such as prompting clinicians to reassess whether a catheter is still needed and empowering nurses to remove it when appropriate–should be embedded in everyday care.”
NIH sees 7,400 fewer grants during fiscal year 2026 than in previous year
News briefToday at 2:35 p.m.
Stephanie Soucheray, MA
Topics
Public Health
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded nearly 12% fewer grants, or 7,400, in fiscal year 2026 compared to the year before President Donald Trump took office for his second term, according to a new analysis from the Association of American Medical Colleges.
In fiscal year 2026, NIH awarded 56,600 grants, compared to fiscal year 2024, when the agency awarded 64,000 grants to biomedical researchers. Moreover, $1.9 billion was awarded to multiyear-funded programs in fiscal year 2026, down from the $2.1 billion earmarked for multiyear projects in fiscal year 2025.
24 months of uncertainty
The decreases were consistent across all NIH funding mechanisms, including the number of research project grants, other research and development grants, and research training and career development grants.The data shows the last 24 months have resulted in continuous uncertainty for research institutions and scientists.
“Institutions require a stable and predictable funding environment throughout the year to plan research programs, budget for faculty and staff needs, and decide on the number of incoming graduate students and postdoctoral scholars,” the authors wrote. “Whether a result of timing, federal personnel changes, or funding mechanisms, it is disruptive to have large swings in the pace of funding from year to year or in the total number of grants.”
Study links antibiotic use with irritable bowel syndrome
News briefToday at 1:03 p.m.
Chris Dall, MA
Topics
Antimicrobial Stewardship
Children and adolescents who received antibiotics had 1.5-times-higher odds of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) by age 24 than those who had not, Swedish researchers reported today at the annual United European Gastroenterology (UEG) conference.
The findings are from an analysis of 2,853 participants enrolled in the BAMSE study, which began in Stockholm in 1994 and was originally established to study environmental and nutritional factors involved in the development of allergies and other chronic conditions. For this study, researchers at the University of Gothenburg reviewed antibiotic drug prescription data starting in 2005, when the participants were aged 9 to 11 years, until IBS was assessed at age 24, tracking whether they had received antibiotics, the number of prescriptions received, and which antibiotic classes had been prescribed.
IBS is a common condition that can cause cramping, abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, or constipation. Antibiotic use has been hypothesized as a potential trigger because of its impact on the gut microbiome, but research linking antibiotics and IBS has been mixed.
Further research needed
By age 24, 10% of the study participants had IBS, and 87.8% of them had received antibiotics, compared with 80.2% of those who didn’t have IBS. After accounting for sex and socioeconomic status, children and adolescents who received antibiotics had 1.5-times-higher odds of IBS than those who hadn’t.The odds of IBS increased with the number of antibiotic prescriptions, rising from 1.3 among participants who received two to three prescriptions to 1.6 with three to five prescriptions and 1.7 with six or more. Tetracyclines and cephalosporins were associated with higher odds of IBS than other antibiotic classes.
The study authors say that while the findings don’t prove antibiotic use causes IBS, they support further research into the relationship.
“Larger, long-term studies with repeated assessment of IBS over time could help determine whether antibiotic exposure precedes IBS and whether the timing of exposure or type of antibiotic matters,” lead author Jessica Sjolund, MD, PhD, said in a UEG Week 2026 press release. “Looking more closely at infections, other health conditions and psychological and family factors could also help clarify what is contributing to the association.”
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