The effect of statins on the outcome of Clostridium difficile infection in hospitalized patients

Several studies have shown an association between exposure to statins and favorable clinical outcomes for various types of infections. We aimed to assess the impact of statin use on mortality, disease severity and complications among hospitalized patients with Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). Data were analyzed from a retrospectively collected database of 499 patients diagnosed with CDI during 2009-2014. We compared infection outcomes between 178 statin (36 %) users and 321 (64 %) non-users. On multivariate analysis, we found that statin use did not have a significant impact on 30-day mortality (OR = 1.54; 95 % CI, 0.85-2.79; p = 0.15) or any significant effect on CDI severity and complication. Concomitant statin use has no significant impact on short-term mortality or effect on CDI severity and complications among hospitalized patients with CDI. However, patients in the statin group were older and had higher Charlson score compared with the non-statin group. Whether these factors affected a possible impact of statins on the disease course remains to be investigated.

• Clostridium difficile is the most common cause of infectious nosocomial diarrhea among hospitalized adult patients in the developed countries. • There is an increasing morbidity and mortality of CDI patients due to the emergence of new strains of high virulence. • Recent studies demonstrated that prior statin use has protective and ameliorating effects on morbidity and mortality among CDI patients. • Our study showed that concomitant statin use has no significant impact on short-term mortality, CDI severity and its complications.