Journal of Clinical Medicine
From Prevalence to Incidence: Validation of Healthcare-Associated Infection Incidence Estimations from Prevalence Data in a Serbian University Hospital
By Nikola Milenković, Ljiljana Markovic‐Denic, Sonja Novak and 6 others.
Abstract
Introduction
Continuous prospective surveillance is considered the reference method for monitoring healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), but it requires substantial personnel and organizational resources. Point prevalence surveys provide a simpler alternative, although they primarily measure prevalence rather than incidence. The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity of the estimation of cumulative incidence of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) from a point prevalence survey (PPS) across different hospital wards.
Methods
A HAI PPS was conducted between 14 November and 2 December 2022, at the University Clinical Center Nis, Serbia, using the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) protocol. Data from 774 patients were analyzed. Prevalence data from the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) and the Orthopedics and Traumatology department were converted into estimated cumulative incidence using the Rhame and Sudderth formula. These estimates were compared against the actual 2022 cumulative incidence obtained via continuous surveillance.