Researchers found a predictive screening tool and preventive model helped reduce healthcare-acquired Clostridium difficile infections in a study published in the American Journal of Infection Control.
The predictive screening tool was developed using risk factors identified in the previous literature and the retrospective analysis of the C. diff cases that occurred in critically ill patients in 2013. The tool was used to screen all patients admitted to one hospital intensive care unit.
Ultimately, the study revealed the following:
1. During the year-long study, 217 high-risk C. diff patients were identified, 62 of whom failed to meet the study criteria, resulting in a study population of 157 patients.
2. Of the entire study population, 10 cases of healthcare-acquired C. diff occurred during the preintervention phase, for an overall incidence rate of roughly 14.7, according to the study.
3. During the intervention phase, two C. diff infections were identified, for an incidence rate of 3.12. The reduction was considered statistically significant.
"A strategy for identifying patients at increased risk and implementation of multidisciplinary risk-mitigation strategies is effective in reducing incidence of [healthcare-acquired C. diff infections]," concluded the study authors.
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