Performance of the national nosocomial infections surveillance risk index in predicting surgical site infection in Australia

Abstract

BACKGROUND. The Victorian Hospital Acquired Infection Surveillance System (VICNISS) hospital-acquired infection surveillance system was established in 2002 in Victoria, Australia, and collates surgical site infection (SSI) surveillance data from public hospitals in Australia. OBJECTIVE. To evaluate the association between the US National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (NNIS) system's risk index and SSI rates for 7 surgical procedures. METHODS. SSI surveillance was performed with NNIS definitions and methods for surgical procedures performed between November 2002 and September 2004. Correlations were assessed using the Goodman-Kruskal γ statistic. RESULTS. Data were submitted for the foll..