Using Restricted Cubic Splines to Study the Duration of Antibiotic Use in the Prognosis of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the most widespread and life-threatening nosocomial infection in intensive care units (ICUs). The duration of antibiotic use is a good predictor of prognosis in patients with VAP, but the ideal duration of antibiotic therapy for VAP in critically ill patients has not been confirmed. Research is therefore needed into the optimal duration of antibiotic use and its impact on VAP. The Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care database included 1,609 patients with VAP. Chi-square or Student's t-tests were used to compare groups, and Cox regression analysis was used to investigate the factors influencing the prognoses of patients with VAP. Nonlinear tests were performed on antibiotic use lasting 10 days. Significant factors were included in the model for sensitivity analysis. For the subgroup analyses, the body mass indexes (BMIs) of patients were separated into BMI 10 days, respectively. The risks in models 1-3 for 10 days of antibiotic use, respectively. These results were robust across the analyses. The duration of antibiotic treatment had a nonlinear effect on the prognosis of patients with VAP. Antibiotic use durations of