ABSTRACT
Introduction: The use of urinary catheter benefit patients who are unable to urinate for various medical rea-sons. Despite its use, a urinary catheter during its application may introduce bacteria to the urinary tract and result in Urinary tract infection (UTI). Even though the burden of catheter-associated UTI is expected to be high in resource-limited countries, there is limited data. The aim of this study was to determine the magnitude of culture-confirmed catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI), associated factors, and antimicrobial sus-acceptability profiles of bacteria. Methods: This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted at Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital (HUCSH), Sidama region, from May-August 2022. One hundred forty-nine catheterized patients at HUCSH were included. Socio-demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were collected using structured questionnaire. Urine specimens were cultured on blood and MacConkey agar. Culture-confirmed catheter-associated urinary tract infection was established if >1 X 105colonies of bacteria per milliliters of urine was detected. The disc diffusion method was used for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. For data analysis, SPSS version 26 was used. Factors associated with culture confirmed CAUTI were assessed using binary logistic regression. Results: The magnitude of culture confirmed CAUTI was 30.2% (n=45; 95% CI=22.8−37.6). The most common bacterial isolates were Escherichia coli (n=12; 26.7%), followed by Klebsiella species (n=10; 22.2%), and Staphylococcus aureus (n=6; 13.3%). Duration of catheterization (AOR=9.6, 95% CI=3.8−24.2) and comorbidities (AOR=4.1, 95% CI=1.7−9.8) were significantly associated with culture-confirmed CAUTI. Most Gram-neg-active bacteria were resistant to commonly prescribed antimicrobial agents. Conclusions:The magnitude of culture-confirmed CAUTI at HUCSH was high.E.coli was the leading bacteria and most of them were resistant to various types of antimicrobial agents. Duration of catheterization and comorbidities were significantly associated with culture-confirmed CAUTI