Prevalence of Surgical Site Infection and Associated Factors Among Mothers After Cesarean Delivery in Zewditu Memorial Hospital

ABSTRACTBACKGROUND: Cesarean delivery is the most common major operation carried out in obstetrics; constituting about 15% of all deliveries worldwide. Surgical site infections (SSIs) are among the most common infectious complications after cesarean delivery; which increase maternal morbidity and mortality, hospital stay and the cost of treatment. Hence, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of SSIs and associated factors among mothers after cesarean delivery.METHODS: Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted in Zewditu Memorial Hospital from December, 2017 to April, 2018. A semi-structure questionnaire was used to collect data. Wound site was examined on the 3rd postoperative day and 1st postnatal visit. On the 14th and 30th postoperative day, each participant was contacted through telephone for any signs of wound infection. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were done to identify the association between predictors and SSIs. A level of P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.RESULTS: A total of 474 pregnant women were included in this study. The prevalence of SSIs was 8.4%. About 95% of SSIs were developed within two weeks after caesarean section and 70% of them were developed after discharge from the hospital. In this study, SSIs were significantly associated with; contaminated wound (AOR=5.64; ; 95%CI, 2.45-10.60; p=0.028), multiple vaginal examination (AOR=5.24; 95%CI, 10.5 -36.2; p=0.001), rupture of membrane more than 12 hours (AOR=7.84; 95%CI, 4.25 -12.34; p=0.002), labor more than 12 hours (AOR=3.57; 95%CI, 1.92 -9.42; p=0.023) and anemia (AOR=16.34 ; 95%CI, 12.9 -30.4; p =0.024).CONCLUSION: In this study post-cesarean SSI was found to be high; and contaminated wound, multiple vaginal examination, rupture of membrane (>12 hours), prolonged labor (>12 hours) and anemia were significant predictors of SSIs.