Disparities in the incidence of community-acquired Clostridioides difficile infection: An area-based assessment of the role of social determinants in Bernalillo County, New Mexico

Abstract

Community-associated Clostridioides difficile infections (CA-CDIs) share many risk factors with health care-associated cases, although the role of socioeconomic factors is poorly understood. This study estimates the influence of several census tract-level measures of socioeconomic status on CA-CDI incidence rates. CA-CDI case data from the New Mexico Emerging Infections Program were analyzed using quasi-Poisson regression modeling. Geocoded cases were assigned census tract-level socioeconomic measures to explore racial, ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in CA-CDI incidence. Regression modeling identified census tract-level socioeconomic measures as well as individual and medical measures that together accounted for 57% of the variance in CA-CDI rates. At the census tract level, socioeconomic factors associated with an increase in CA-CDI incidence included a high percentage of individuals lacking health insurance and a low percentage of individuals with low educational attainment. A subanalysis that included racial and ethnic designation revealed that ethnicity had no significant effect, but compared to white race, other races were significantly more likely to acquire CA-CDI. Although this work reveals the role of certain socioeconomic and race and ethnicity risk factors in the incidence of CA-CDI, it also underscores the complex relationships that exist between socioeconomic status and access to health care.