Investigating the Effects of Nosocomial Clostridioides difficile Infection Among Acute Leukemia Patients: Insights...

Rising nosocomial Clostridioides difficile infections pose high risks, especially for immunocompromised leukemia patients, necessitating targeted research to enhance patient care and outcomes.The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of nosocomial Clostridioides difficile infections (CDI) on patients hospitalized with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Our study was a retrospective analysis of adult patients hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of ALL or AML, using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) database for 2020. Primary outcomes included the incidence of nosocomial CDI and all-cause inpatient mortality. Secondary outcomes included hospital length of stay, resource utilization, and morbidity. Statistical analyses were conducted with STATA (address). Fisher's exact test was utilized to compare proportions, while the Student's t test was employed for continuous variables. Multivariate logistic and linear regression analyses were used to adjust for confounding variables.

We found in 21 135 ALL and 58 560 AML adult patients that the CDI incidences were 2.77% and 3.0%, respectively. ALL and AML patients with CDI had adjusted mortality odds ratios of 3.02 (P = .003) and 1.51 (P = .02). Hospital length of stay was extended by mean differences of 10.16 days (ALL) and 8.33 days (AML) for those with CDI compared to those without it. In addition, patients with CDI displayed a significantly higher incidence of acute kidney injury, sepsis, vasopressor use, and intensive care unit admissions.

This study highlights the significant impact of CDI infections on health outcomes for leukemia patients, emphasizing the need for robust infection control measures, early detection, and aggressive management of CDI to improve patient outcomes and minimize healthcare costs.