Description: An assertion that an act was the cause of another act.This is stronger and more specific than the support link. The source (cause) is typically an observation, but may be any act, while the target may be any act.

Examples:

• a growth of Staphylococcus aureus may be considered the cause of an abscess
• contamination of the infusion bag was deemed to be the cause of the infection that the patient experienced
• lack of staff on the shift was deemed to be a supporting factor (proximal factor) causing the patient safety incident where the patient fell out of bed because the bed-sides had not been put up which caused the night patient to fall out of bed