Abstract
Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) remains a leading cause of health care facility-associated infection. A greater understanding of the regional epidemiologic profile of CDI could inform targeted prevention strategies. To assess trends in incidence of health care facility-associated and community-acquired CDI among hospitalized patients over time and to conduct a subanalysis of trends in the NAP1 strain of CDI over time. This long-term multicenter cohort study reviewed records of patients (N = 2 025 678) admitted to a network of 43 regional community hospitals primarily in the southeastern United States from January 1, 2013, through December 31, 2017. Generalized linear mixed-effects models were used to adjust for potential clustering within facilities and changing test method (nucleic acid amplification testing or toxin enzyme immunoassay) over time. Clostridioides difficile infection incidence rates were counted as cases per 1000 admissions for community-acquired and total CDI cases or cases per 10 000 patient-days for health care facility-associated CDI. Long-term trends in the proportion of cases acquired in the community and in NAP1 strain incidence were also evaluated. A total of 2 025 678 admissions and 21 254 CDI cases were included (12 678 [59.6%] female; median [interquartile range] age, 69 [55-80] years). Median (interquartile range) total CDI incidence increased slightly from 7.9 (3.5-12.4) cases per 1000 admissions in 2013 to 9.3 (4.9-13.7) cases per 1000 admissions in 2017. After adjustment, the overall incidence of health care facility-associated CDI declined (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 0.995; 95% CI, 0.990-0.999; P = .03), whereas insufficient evidence was found for either an increase or a decrease in community-acquired CDI (IRR, 1.004; 95% CI, 0.999-1.009; P = .14). The proportion of cases classified as community acquired increased over time from a mean (SD) of 0.49 (0.28) in 2013 to 0.61 (0.26) in 2017 (odds ratio, 1.010 per month; 95% CI, 1.006-1.015; P < .001). Rates of the NAP1 strain of CDI varied widely between facilities, with no statistically significant change in NAP1 strain incidence over time in the community setting (IRR, 1.007; 95% CI, 0.994-1.021) or health care facility setting (IRR, 1.011; 95% CI, 0.990-1.032). The findings suggest that, despite the modest improvement in health care facility-associated CDI rates, a better understanding of community-acquired CDI incidence is needed for future infection prevention efforts.
Highlights
500 000 cases of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) occur each year in the United States and are associated with more than 29 000 deaths.[1]
The overall incidence of health care facility– associated CDI declined, whereas insufficient evidence was found for either an increase or a decrease in community-acquired CDI (IRR, 1.004; 95% CI, 0.999-1.009; P = .14)
The proportion of cases classified as community acquired increased over time from a mean (SD) of 0.49 (0.28) in 2013 to 0.61 (0.26) in 2017
Summary
500 000 cases of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) occur each year in the United States and are associated with more than 29 000 deaths.[1] Clostridioides difficile infection is the leading cause of health care–associated diarrhea, is the most common health care–associated infection,[2] and is an important health care–associated pathogen, but its epidemiologic profile is still evolving. In the early 2000s, the fluoroquinolone-resistant NAP1/027 strain of C difficile triggered multiple nosocomial epidemics, cementing CDI’s reputation as a predominantly health care facility– associated infection.[3,4,5] Over the past decade, CDI has been increasingly reported among populations without previous hospital exposure.[6,7,8] This type of infection is termed communityacquired CDI. The true burden of communityacquired CDI and its risk factors remain poorly understood
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