10 Jan MRSA: No Association with Number of Deliveries and Risk of Infection
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Andrea Parriott MPH, PhD
Department of Epidemiology
Fielding School of Public Health
University of California Los Angeles
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Parriott: We wanted to know whether hospital and provider volume (i.e. the number of deliveries performed by each hospital and provider per quarter) and
cesarean section rates were predictors of the risk of methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection before discharge from the hospital
(after delivering a baby). We did not find an association between any of
these variables and risk of MRSA infection.
MedicalResearch.com: Were any of the findings unexpected?
Dr. Parriott: It was somewhat surprising that we did not find an association between the number of deliveries performed in the hospital and the risk of infection.
There are a number of previous studies that have found that patients in
larger and busier hospitals are at greater risk of healthcare acquired
infections, and at least one study that found an association between volume
and postpartum infection risk.
MedicalResearch.com: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Dr. Parriott: It is hard to draw conclusions from a single observational study. To the best of our knowledge, ours is the only study to examine the relationship
between this particular set of exposures and this outcome, so it is
impossible to interpret it in the context of other studies.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Dr. Parriott: The biggest limitation of our study is that we had no way to track women once they were discharged from the hospital. This is a problem, because
most postpartum infections occur after discharge. We would like to see a
study that follows women after discharge from the hospital, to see if there
is an association between our exposures (hospital and provider volume and
cesarean rate) and later infections.
Citation:
Parriott AM, Brown JM, Arah OA
Am J Infect Control. 2013 Dec 19. pii: S0196-6553(13)01160-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2013.08.003.
[Epub ahead of print]
Last Updated on January 10, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD