Diagnosing Post-Cesarean Surgical Site Infections in Rural Rwanda: Development, Validation, and Field Testing of a Screening Algorithm for Use by Community Health Workers

Background: We aimed to develop and validate a screening algorithm to assist community health workers (CHWs) in identifying surgical site infections (SSIs) after cesarean section (c-section) in rural Africa. Methods: Patients were adult women who underwent c-section at a Rwandan rural district hospital between March and October 2017. A CHW administered a nine-item clinical questionnaire 10 ± 3 days post-operatively. Independently, a general...