Risk of complications and mortality following recurrent and non-recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection: a retrospective observational database study in England

Abstract

Background: Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) increases the risk of complications and mortality. We assessed the magnitude of these outcomes in a large cohort of English patients with initial and recurrent CDI. Aim: To compare the risk of complications and all-cause mortality, within 12 months, among hospitalized patients ≥18 years old with hospital-associated- (HA-) CDI and recurrent CDI. Methods: Patients with HA-CDI during 2002–2013 were identified using inpatient hospital data linked to primary care and death data. Each HA-CDI case was frequency matched to two hospitalized patients without CDI on age group, sex, calendar year of admission, admission method and number of hospital care episodes. A second CDI episode starting on days 13–56 was defined as recurrence. Risks of mortality and complications at 12 months were analysed using Cox proportional hazard models. Findings: We included 6862 patients with HA-CDI and 13,724 without CDI. Median age was 81.0 years (IQR 71.0–87.0). Patients with HA-CDI had more comorbidities than those without CDI, and significantly higher risks of mortality (adjusted hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) 1.77 (1.67–1.87)) and complications (1.66 (1.46–1.88)) within 12 months from hospital admission. Of those with HA-CDI, 1140 (16.6%) experienced CDI recurrence. Patients with recurrent versus non-recurrent CDI also had significantly increased risk of mortality (1.32 (1.20–1.45)) and complications (1.37 (1.01–1.84)) in the 12 months from the initial CDI. Conclusions: HA-CDI (versus no CDI) and recurrent CDI are both associated with significantly higher risks of complications or death within 12 months of the initial CDI episode.

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ORCID for Nick Francis: orcid.org/0000-0001-8939-7312

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