title: Three questions to screen for postdischarge surgical site infections.
abstract: In-hospital surveillance of surgical site infections (SSI) was conducted on 599 patients in a German university hospital. On a subgroup of 342 patients, SSI was assessed after discharge from hospital based on data of a questionnaire and telephone interviews. Postdischarge surveillance revealed substantially higher infection rates than in-hospital surveillance. From assessment of single questionnaire items, a model of a 3-item questionnaire for surveillance of SSI is proposed.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hygiene and Environmental Medicine, University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany. Electronic address: andreas.knaust@uniklinik-leipzig.de.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Knaust
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hygiene and Environmental Medicine, University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moussa
authors.affiliation: Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Ispra (VA), Italy.
authors.forename: Nikolaos I
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Stilianakis
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hygiene and Environmental Medicine, University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Eikmann
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hygiene and Environmental Medicine, University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Herr
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods*; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011182:Postoperative Care / Q000592:standards; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires