THURSDAY, April 11, 2019 (HealthDay News) — The risk for surgical site infection (SSI) after cesarean delivery is increased for women covered by Medicaid versus private health insurance, according to a study published online April 9 in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.
Sarah H. Yi, Ph.D., from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues conducted a retrospective study to compare the risk for SSI following cesarean delivery between women covered by Medicaid and private health insurance. The relative risk for SSI by primary payer was assessed using multivariate regression accounting for patient, procedure, and hospital characteristics.
The researchers found that 48 percent of the 291,757 cesarean deliveries included were covered by Medicaid. SSIs were detected following 0.75 and 0.63 percent of deliveries covered by Medicaid and private insurance, respectively (unadjusted odds ratio, 1.2). After adjustment, the odds ratio of SSI following caesarean deliveries covered by Medicaid versus private insurance was 1.4.
“These findings suggest the need to evaluate and better characterize maternal health care as delivered to women covered by Medicaid,” the authors write. “Such information can inform targeted infection prevention efforts by hospitals serving vulnerable patient groups.”
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