SSI risk after c-section twice as high for Medicaid patients

Editor's Note

Medicaid patients had a twofold higher risk of surgical site infections (SSIs) after cesarean delivery than privately insured patients, this study finds.

The higher risk remained even after adjusting for demographic and clinical variables.

Medicaid might represent factors the study did not account for, such as socioeconomic status or prenatal care, the authors say.

SAN DIEGO – Medicaid patients were nearly twice as likely to develop surgical site infections after cesarean delivery than privately insured women, according to investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The association remained even after researchers accounted for several demographic and clinical variables, Dr. Sarah Yi said in an interview at an annual scientific meeting on infectious diseases. Dr. Sarah Yi “If we can identify a population that is at higher risk for health care–associated infections, then maybe we can intervene at some level,” said Dr. Yi of the ...