Which infection had the highest predicted number of infections in the dataset?

• A. Surgical site infections (SSIs)
• B. Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs)
• C. Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs)
• D. Laboratory identified C. difficile infections (CDIs)

Answer: (A)

The main idea is that predicted infection counts come from how often the infection occurs per exposure and how large the exposure pool is. Surgical site infections tend to produce the highest predicted counts because there are many surgical procedures in a typical healthcare setting, creating a large exposure pool. Even if the infection rate per procedure isn’t the highest, multiplying by the large number of surgeries often results in the largest total number of predicted infections.

In contrast, infections tied to specific devices or conditions depend more on how many patients involve catheter use or central lines, or on antibiotic exposure and testing practices. Those exposure pools are often smaller or more tightly controlled, which can lead to lower predicted counts in many datasets.