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Background
Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is the leading cause of infectious diarrhea
and the most common healthcare-associated infection in hospitalized patients. Clostridioides
difficile is recognized as an urgent threat given its clinical and economic impact
on public health. Patients with CDI face increased healthcare charges not only as
a result of the charges associated with diagnosis and treatment, but also due to charges
associated with extended hospitalizations and readmissions that can occur. The Arizona
Department of Health Services analyzed non-federal hospital discharge data to estimate
the associated charges for CDI-related hospitalizations in Arizona.
Methods
All hospital discharges for year 2018 containing the International Classification
of Diseases, Tenth Revision code for intestinal infection due to Clostridioides difficile
were extracted from the Arizona Hospital Discharge Database (AHDD). The number of
days hospitalized, the total hospital charges, hospital and emergency room utilization,
and mortality rates for each CDI case were analyzed. Discharges were stratified by
diagnosis level such as principal diagnosis vs. other diagnosis.
Results
The number of CDI-related hospital discharges in 2018 was 8,629. Among those, 15%
(1288) were categorized as recurrent CDI. Among all CDI discharges, 4% (389) of patients
died during their hospital visit. Among non-recurrent discharges, 29% were attributed
to CDI as the principal diagnosis. Among recurrent discharges, 47% were attributed
to CDI as the principal diagnosis. Among those with a principal diagnosis of CDI,
recurrent CDI cases showed higher mean hospital charges and number of hospitalized
days ($47,608 and 5 days) compared to non-recurrent cases ($36,263 and 4 days).
Conclusions
CDI continues to have a significant clinical impact among hospitalized patients in
Arizona. CDI results in considerable healthcare charges especially among those who
experience recurrent CDI. The impact of antibiotic stewardship programs in Arizona
should be further explored in light of numerous studies demonstrating cost savings
without compromising patient outcomes.
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Copyright
© 2020 Published by Elsevier Inc.
