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Volume 9, Number 2—February 2003
Research

Health and Economic Impact of Surgical Site Infections Diagnosed after Hospital Discharge

Eli N. Perencevich*†Comments to Author , Kenneth E. Sands*†, Sara E. Cosgrove*, Edward Guadagnoli‡, Ellen Meara‡, and Richard Platt§†‡
Author affiliations: *Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; †Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Eastern Massachusetts Prevention Epicenter, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; ‡Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; §Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Main Article

Table 4

Univariate analysis of 8-week postoperative resource utilization, surgical site infections (SSIs) studya

 Cases N=89
 Controls N=178
Medians or proportions Means Medians or proportions Means p value
Outpatient visit use
Required outpatient visit
 85 (96)
153 (86)
<0.001b
Outpatient visits per patient
 5 [4, 9]
 7.5 (+/-6.3)
 3 [1, 5]
 3.4 (+/-3.0)
 <0.02c
Estimated outpatient visit costs
 $265 [$223, $430]
 $365 (+/-264)
 $146 [$63, $229]
 $160(+/-128)
 <0.001c
Lab test ordered by provider
 69 (78)
143 (80)
0.66b
No. of lab tests ordered
 1 [1, 3]
 2.1 (+/-2.5)
 1 [1, 2]
 2.0 (+/-2.3)
 0.58c
Patient phoned provider
 77 (87)
125 (70)
0.002b
No. of phone calls made
 3 [2, 6]
 4.7 (+/-4.8)
 1 [0, 4]
 3.0(+/-3.8)
 0.00c
Pharmacy use
Standard wholesale costs 
 for antibiotics per patient
 $34.2 [$78.6, 10.6]
 $60 (+/-71.6)
 $0 [$0, $0]
 $13.6(44.2)
 <0.001c
Emergency room use
Patient visits to emergency room
 28 (31)
16 (9)
<0.001b
Emergency room charges per patient
 $0 [$0, $370]
 $333 (+/-729)
 $0 [$0, $0]
 $114 (+/-470)
 <0.001c
Radiology services use
Patients who had a radiologic test
 36 (40)
49 (28)
0.023b
Radiology charges per patient
 $0 [$0, $242]
 $1,076 (+/-3,845)
 $0 [$0, 124]
 $587 (+/-2365)
 0.022c
Rehospitalization
Patients rehospitalized
 30 (34)
21 (12)
<0.001b
Total rehospitalization charges
 $0 [$0, $4,370]
 $7,925 (+/-22,321)
 $0[$0, $0]
 $2,079 (+/-11,222)
 <0.001c
Total rehospitalization costs
 $0 [$0, $1,924]
 $3,489 (+/-9,827)
 $0[$0, $0]
 $916 (+/-4,941)
 <0.001c
Visited by provider in hospital
 46(52)
61(34)
0.008b
Inpatient provider visits
 1 [0, 6]
 3.5 (+/-4.5)
 0 [0, 3]
 2.2 (+/-5.3)
 <0.001c
Skilled nursing facility use
Skilled nursing facility used
 8 (9)
8 (4.5)
0.09b
Days in skilled nursing facility
 0 [0, 0]
 0.21 (+/-0.83)
 0 [0, 0]
 .21 (+/-1.8)
 0.97c
Skilled nursing charges per patient
 $0 [$0, $0]
 $460 (+/-2,198)
 $0 [$0, $0]
 $204 (+/-1,651)
 0.14c
Home health aide use
Home health aide used
 55 (62)
84 (47)
0.009b
Home health charges per patient
 $110 [$0, $605]
 $827 (+/-1,765)
 $0 [$0, $275]
 $579 (+/-2,812)
 0.007c
Durable equipment use
Durable medical equipment used
 33 (37)
39 (22)
0.008b
Durable medical charges per patient
 $0 [$0, $102]
 $123 (+/-436)
 $0 [$0, $0]
 $69 (+/-223)
 0.013c
Total costsd $1,240 [$445, $4,594] $5,155 (+/-10,8570 $300 [$146, $795] $1,773 (+/-6,344 <0.001c

aResults are shown as no. (%), mean (+/- standard deviation) or median [interquartile range] along with p value for comparison of cases with SSI to controls without SSI.

bCohran-Mantel-Haenszel.

c Wilcoxon signed-ranks test.

dTotal costs encompass all emergency, radiology, readmission, skilled nursing, home health, and durable medical charges that have been converted to costs with a cost-to-charge ratio and all estimated outpatient visit and antibiotic costs.

Main Article

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The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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