Date of Conferral
March 2024
Date of Award
Winter 2025
Degree
Doctor of Public Health (DrPH)
School
Public Policy and Administration
Advisor
Dr. Jennifer Gadarowski
Abstract
Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are a significant public health issue. More than 600,000 patients in the United States develop HAIs every year. Surgical site infections (SSIs) are a very common HAI and can develop when a woman has a Cesarean section (C-section). The complications from the development of an SSI can be severe. SSIs and C-section rates are high among African American women. The purpose of this quantitative study, utilizing secondary data provided by the California Health and Human Services Open Data Portal, was to determine if age at the time of delivery, smoking status of tobacco and non-tobacco products during pregnancy, alcohol consumption during pregnancy, human immunodeficiency virus status, and sickle cell disease status were associated with C-section SSIs among African American women. The theoretical framework for this study was the web of causation theory. The sample included 7,206 African American women who had a C-section in California at any time during 2022. Binary logistic regression, chi-square, and Fisher’s exact test were used to analyze the data. The findings of this study revealed that age at the time of delivery significantly predicted the development of a C-section SSI, smoking and alcohol consumption during pregnancy were statistically significantly associated with the development of a C-section SSI, and sickle cell disease status significantly predicted the development of a C-section SSI. The results of this study can lead to positive social change by providing valuable information that may guide practitioners, hospital leaders, and critical public health stakeholders in reducing C-section SSIs among African American women and improving maternal health outcomes.
