Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology (CBIC) Practice Exam 2025 - Free CBIC Practice Questions and Study Guide

In the context of an infection control study, a dependent variable is one that is measured to assess the effect of an intervention or treatment. In this case, the number of infections observed serves as the output that researchers are interested in evaluating. The study might implement new protocols or training and then measure how those changes impact infection rates, making the infection count a crucial reflection of the efficacy of those interventions.

Hand hygiene compliance rates can be an important aspect of the study but are considered an independent variable because they are a factor that researchers might manipulate to see how it affects infection rates. Implementing new sanitation protocols and healthcare employee training sessions are both examples of independent variables because they represent actions or changes being introduced into the study in an effort to influence the dependent variable, which in this instance is the number of infections observed.