Published findings from a survey conducted by Magnolia Medical Technologies, a firm that develops and manufactures blood and body fluid collection devices, highlight the concerns of those surveyed about hospitalization risks, as well as their knowledge of antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacterial infections, sepsis, and hospital-acquired infections.
The report, “State of Patient Care 2023,” shows that the greatest concern about hospitalization among the 1,002 adults in the U.S. (including some medical personnel) surveyed was the high cost of hospitalization, which outpaced concerns about antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacterial infections, sepsis, hospital-acquired infections, and other hospitalization risks.
Approximately 20% of non-medical respondents said they had little or no knowledge about the risk of hospital-acquired infections, with 85% of all respondents agreeing with the statement “More education is needed for patients about antimicrobial resistant bacteria.” Unsurprisingly, respondents who had themselves been diagnosed with sepsis or had someone close to them diagnosed with it were more likely to be knowledgeable about the risks of infections.
Two areas where there were high percentages of agreement were that healthcare providers should exercise greater caution when prescribing antibiotics in order to fight antibiotic resistance (73% of respondents agreed with this concern) and that the U.S. government was not doing enough to address preventable medical errors and hold hospitals accountable, with a total of 46% considering the government’s performance in this area to be “poor” or “extremely poor.”
