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Clostridium difficile Infection Among Veterans Health Administration Patients
Yinong Young-Xu1, Jennifer L Kuntz2, Dale N Gerding3
11National Center for Patient Safety,Department of Veterans Affairs,White River Junction,Vermont,United States.
Objective:
To report on the prevalence and incidence of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) from 2009 to 2013 among Veterans Healthcare Administration patients
Design:
A retrospective descriptive analysis of data extracted from a large electronic medical record (EMR) database
Setting:
Data were acquired from VHA healthcare records from 2009 to 2013 that included outpatient clinical visits, long-term care, and hospitalized care as well as pharmacy and laboratory information.
Results:
In 2009, there were 10,207 CDI episodes, and in 2013, there were 12,143 CDI episodes, an increase of 19.0%. The overall CDI rate increased by 8.4% from 193 episodes per 100,000 patient years in 2009 to 209 episodes per 100,000 patient years in 2013. Of the CDI episodes identified in 2009, 58% were identified during a hospitalization, and 42% were identified in an outpatient setting. In 2013, 44% of the CDI episodes were identified in an outpatient setting.
Conclusion:
This is one of the largest studies that has utilized timely EMR data to describe the current CDI epidemiology at the VHA. Despite an aging population with greater burden of comorbidity than the general US population, our data show that VHA CDI rates stabilized between 2011 and 2013 following increases likely attributable to the introduction of the more sensitive nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs). The findings in this report will help establish an accurate benchmark against which both current and future VA CDI prevention initiatives can be measured.
