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Nosocomial Infection, Length of Stay, and Time-Dependent Bias

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Jan Beyersmann*
Affiliation:
Freiburg Centre for Data Analysis and Modelling, University of Freiburg, Germany Institute of Medical Biometry and Medical Informatics, University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany
Thomas Kneib
Affiliation:
Department of Statistics, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
Martin Schumacher
Affiliation:
Institute of Medical Biometry and Medical Informatics, University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany
Petra Gastmeier
Affiliation:
Institute of Hygiene and Environmental Medicine, Charité-University Medicine, Berlin, Germany
*
Freiburg Centre for Data Analysis and Modelling, University of Freiburg, Eckerstrasse 1, Freiburg, D-79104, Germany(jan.beyersmann@fdm.uni-freiburg.de)

Abstract

Nosocomial pneumonia and its impact on length of stay are major healthcare concerns. From an epidemiological perspective, nosocomial pneumonia is a time-dependent event. Any statistical analysis that does not explicitly model this time dependency will be biased. The bias is not redeemed by adjusting for baseline information.

Type
Concise Communications
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2009

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