Hospitals that decrease their use of catheters among patients with urinary incontinence can reduce their infection rates, a US study has found.

Researchers at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Nebraska, US, looked at the impact of a team approach to preventing infections from urinary catheters.

They found that infection rates dropped by 89 per cent over the 14-month study period, largely as a result of discontinuing catheter use unless medically necessary.

In cases where a patient's urinary incontinence was so severe that a catheter was the only viable option, nurses, therapy staff, family members and patients were all educated on their use.

Infection prevention expert Kristina Felix, who led the study, revealed: "We looked at every facet of bladder management, including better ways to assist patients to the bathroom in a timely manner, different types of commodes and engaging the entire care team in the bladder management processes."

The expert added that all members of the care team were trained "so that everyone understood the process and the benefit to the patient of reduced urinary tract infections".

NHS figures suggest that urinary tract infections associated with catheter use account for 35 per cent of all cases of hospital acquired infection.