Integrating Time-Varying and Ecological Exposures into Multivariate Analyses of Hospital-Acquired Infection Risk Factors: A Review and Demonstration

摘要

OBJECTIVES. Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) develop rapidly after brief and transient exposures, and ecological exposures are central to their etiology. However, many studies of HAIs risk do not correctly account for the timing of outcomes relative to exposures, and they ignore ecological factors. We aimed to describe statistical practice in the most cited HAI literature as it relates to these issues, and to demonstrate how to implement models that can be used to account for them.