title: Costs of surgical site infections that appear after hospital discharge.
abstract: Data were collected from surgical patients in the hospital and on 4 occasions postdischarge. The incidence of postdischarge surgical site infection was 8.46%. Strong evidence showed that these infections caused minor additional costs, which contradicts existing literature. We discuss why previous studies might have overstated costs.
authors.affiliation: The Centre for Healthcare Related Infection Surveillance and Prevention, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. n.graves@qut.edu.au
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Graves
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Halton
authors.forename: Merrilyn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Curtis
authors.forename: Shane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Doidge
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lairson
authors.forename: Marylou
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McLaws
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Whitby
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007182:Income; D017053:Infection Control / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010351:Patient Discharge; D011182:Postoperative Care; D012307:Risk Factors; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology*