Reducing total antibiotic use resulted in decreased rates of hospital-onset Clostridioides difficile infection, according to a study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Researchers gathered data from 549 U.S.-based acute care hospitals to study the associations between rates of hospital-level antibiotic use and hospital-onset C. diff infection. The study period was from 2006 to 2012.
The study shows the unadjusted annual rate of hospital-onset C. diff infection was 7.3 per 10,000 patient days and of total antibiotic use was 811 days of therapy per 1,000 patient days.
Researchers found that for every 50 days of therapy per 1,000 patient days increase in total antibiotic use, there was a 4.4 percent increase in hospital-onset C. diff infection. Additionally, for every 10 days of therapy per 1,000 patient days increase in use of third- and fourth-generation cephalosporins or carbapenems there was a 2.1 percent and 2.9 percent increase in hospital-onset C. diff infection, respectively.
The study also shows that six hospitals with a more than 30 percent decrease in total antibiotic use, had a 33 percent decrease in hospital-onset C. diff infection.