Clinical risk factors for Clostridium difficile-associated diseases

Abstract

Many factors appear to influence the chance of acquiring Clostridiumdifficile (C. difficile) infection, and an accurate identification ofrisk factors could be beneficial in many ways. Thus, in the presentstudy, clinical risk factors for C. difficile-associated disease (CDAD)in Korea were identified. A total of 93 patients who met the inclusioncriteria and 186 age/gender/ward/admission period-matched controlpatients were included in this study. Statistically significantassociations were found with presence of chronic lung diseases (oddsratio {[}OR], 3.41; 95% confidence interval {[}CI], 1.25-9.32; p =0.017), presence of ileus (OR, 10.05; 95% CI, 2.42-41.80; p = 0.001),presence of intensive care unit (ICU) stay (OR, 9.79; 95% CI,3.03-31.68; p < 0.001), use of cephalosphorins (OR, 3.30; 95% CI,1.13-9.62; p = 0.029), history of surgery (OR, 10.89; 95% CI,3.96-29.92; p < 0.001), and history of long-term care facility stay (OR,14.90; 95% CI, 4.02-55.26; p < 0.001). Awareness of CDAD is critical toprovide appropriate clinical care. Surveillance of the nationalincidence rate and multicenter studies are needed, and the potentialvalue of a C. difficile vaccine should be studied. (C) 2012 ElsevierEditora Ltda. All rights reserved.