Candida Infections in Critically Ill Trauma Patients: A Retrospective Case-Control Study

HYPOTHESIS We sought to determine whether the usual risk factors for fungal infections are applied to trauma patients. DESIGN Case-control study. SETTING American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma–certified Level I trauma center in a tertiary care community hospital. PATIENTS Screening of medical records of a consecutive sample of 459 patients aged 16 years or older admitted to an intensive care unit for 4 days or more from 1993 through 1996 identified 20 patients infected with Candida species. Two case controls for each were selected from the remaining patients using sex, age within 5 years, mechanism of injury, and best fit of first 4 Abbreviated Injury Scale scores; the Injury Severity Score and intensive care unit length of stay were also used if needed. INTERVENTIONS None. RESULTS Univariate analyses by t and χ2 tests showed significance (P