In:
Clinical Infectious Diseases, Oxford University Press (OUP), Vol. 77, No. 3 ( 2023-08-14), p. 346-350
Abstract:
Inappropriate Clostridioides difficile testing is common in the hospital setting, leading to potential overdiagnosis of infection when single-step nucleic acid amplification testing is used. The potential role of infectious diseases (ID) specialists in enforcing appropriate C. difficile testing is unclear. Methods At a single 697-bed academic hospital, we performed a retrospective study from 1 March 2012 to 31 December 2019 comparing hospital-onset C. difficile infection (HO-CDI) rates during 3 consecutive time periods: baseline 1 (37 months, no decision support), baseline 2 (32 months, computer decision support), and intervention period (25 months, mandatory ID specialist approval for all C. difficile testing on hospital day 4 or later). We used a discontinuous growth model to assess the impact of the intervention on HO-CDI rates. Results During the study period, we evaluated C. difficile infections across 331 180 admission and 1 172 015 patient-days. During the intervention period, a median of 1 HO-CDI test approval request per day (range, 0–6 alerts/day) was observed; adherence by providers with obtaining approval was 85%. The HO-CDI rate was 10.2, 10.4, and 4.3 events per 10 000 patient-days for each consecutive time period, respectively. In adjusted analysis, the HO-CDI rate did not differ significantly between the 2 baseline periods (P = .14) but did differ between the baseline 2 period and intervention period (P & lt; .001). Conclusions An ID-led C. difficile testing approval process was feasible and was associated with a & gt;50% decrease in HO-CDI rates, due to enforcement of appropriate testing.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1058-4838
,
1537-6591
Language:
English
Publisher:
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Publication Date:
2023
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2002229-3
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