A health care accrediting group is conducting an annual evaluation of a suburban hospital. Iatrogenic infection rates for all key hospital services are examined as part of the procedure. The data for inpatient surgical infections during the last year are provided below. In this hospital, what is the case-fatality rate for methicillin-resistant S aureus surgical infections?

Question

A health care accrediting group is conducting an annual evaluation of a suburban hospital. Iatrogenic infection rates for all key hospital services are examined as part of the procedure. The data for inpatient surgical infections during the last year are provided below. In this hospital, what is the case-fatality rate for methicillin-resistant S aureus surgical infections?

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Eductional Objective: Case-fatality rate (CFR) is a measure of the severity of a disease or condition. It is defined as the proportion of reported cases of a specific disease or condition (eg, methicillin-resistant S aureus, [MRSA]) that are fatal within the population affected by the disease or condition over a specific time. The CFR can be calculated as the number of fatal cases of disease or condition divided by the total number of people with the disease or condition.
In this scenario, 40 fatal and 70 nonfatal cases of MRSA infection are reported. Therefore, the CFR is:
CFR = 40 / (40 + 70) = 40 / 110

A Health Care Accrediting Group Is Conducting an Annual Evaluation