Qualitative interviews to identify burden of illness, impacts and costs associated with surgical site infections

AIM: To gather qualitative data from patients on the burden, impacts and costs of surgical site infections (SSI) requiring second surgeries. PATIENTS & METHODS: 15 adults with SSIs from spinal (n = 4), knee replacement (n = 3) or hip replacement (n = 8) surgery participated in a focus group or individual interview. Patients completed the PROMIS Physical Functioning (PF) Short Form 10A (PROMIS-PF). RESULTS: Patients reported impacts within four primary domains: PF/activity-related; social/emotional; financial/employment; and energy/sleep. The mean PROMIS-PF score was 39.3 (standard deviation = 12.1), over one standard deviation below 50, the US norm. CONCLUSION: SSIs impart a broad and significant impact on patients and their families. These burdens will be important to capture when selecting patient-reported outcome measures for this patient population.