A hospital epidemiologist was called to investigate an outbreak of severe intrav

Question

A hospital epidemiologist was called to investigate an outbreak of severe intravenous catheter infections among patients cared for in the hospital. During the past one year, 20 severe infections occurred out of 15,000 hospitalized patients. This frequency represents a large increase over the previous two years, when there were only 11 and 9 serious IV catheter infections per year, respectively The hospital epidemiologist proceeds to identify three controls for each case by randomly selecting 60 patients hospitalized on the same ward as the case during the past one year. For the cases and the controls she determines the proportion in each group who are exposed to 25 different exposures, including the setting where the intravenous catheter was placed. She classifies the data according to whether the catheter was placed in the emergency room (ER) or not, and the following table shows the result Infected Catheter Non-infected Catheter Placement of Catheter Location Emergency Room (ER) Other location Total 42 60 20 Is catheter infection associated with the location where the catheter was placed? Which of the following statements, best describes your reasoning? No, ER placement is not associated with infection because because the risk difference is only 4 infections There is not sufficient information provided to determine risk of infection Yes, ER placement is associated with infection because the odds ratio is 5.4 Yes, ER placement is associated with infection because the prevalence ratio is 3.5 Yes, ER placement is associated with infection because the risk ratio is 3.5

Explanation / Answer

Yes, the catheter infection is associated with the location where the catheter was placed because the risk ration is 3.5. as compared to other location

Yes, ER placement is associated with the infection because the risk ration is 3.5.

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