New Findings from Boston University Update Understanding of Clostridium difficile (Y Retrospective Analysis of Long-term Gastrointestinal Symptoms After Clostridium Difficile Infection In a Nonelderly Cohort)

2019 MAR 06 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Gastroenterology Daily News -- Investigators publish new report on Gram-Positive Bacteria - Clostridium difficile. According to news reporting from Boston, Massachusetts, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Elderly patients and those with comorbid conditions are at high risk for poor outcomes after Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) but outcomes in a healthier, nonelderly population are not well described. We sought to investigate gastrointestinal diagnoses and CDI during hospitalizations in the 24 to 36 months after an initial episode of CDI in nonelderly patients in a cohort with an overall low prevalence of comorbid conditions.”

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Boston University, “We performed a retrospective analysis of hospital admissions from 2010-2013 using the Truven MarketScan database of employment-based private insurance claims. Subjects <65 years of age and their adult dependents (> = 18 years old); a CDI diagnosis in 2011 (index date); at least 12 months of pre-index continuous enrollment; and 24-36 months of continuous post-index enrollment were included. The 12 months of each subject’s enrollment prior to the index date for a CDI served as the reference period for the analyses of that subject’s post-CDI time periods. Hospital claims during the follow-up period were evaluated for gastrointestinal diagnoses and/or CDI ICD-9 codes. The risk of gastrointestinal diagnoses was assessed using Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for a pre-specified set of baseline demographic and clinical factors. During 2011, 5,632 subjects with CDI met the inclusion criteria for our study. The risk of gastrointestinal diagnoses in patients with a CDI diagnostic code for the same admission was almost 8-fold higher 3 months post-CDI (hazard ratio (HR) = 7.56; 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.97-19.19) than for subjects without CDI and remained statistically significant until month 24 (HR = 1.47; 95% CI = 1.04-2.08). After CDI, patients remained at risk for gastrointestinal symptoms with CDI for up to two years.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “There is an important, long-term health-care burden after CDI in this population.”

For more information on this research see: Y Retrospective Analysis of Long-term Gastrointestinal Symptoms After Clostridium Difficile Infection In a Nonelderly Cohort. PLOS ONE, 2018;13(12):. PLOS ONE can be contacted at: Public Library Science, 1160 Battery Street, Ste 100, San Francisco, CA 94111, USA. (Public Library of Science - www.plos.org; PLOS ONE - www.plosone.org)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting T.F. Barlam, Boston University, Sch Med, Dept. of Med, Sect Infect Dis, Boston, MA 02118, United States. Additional authors for this research include R. Soria-Saucedo, O. Ameli, H.J. Cabral, W.A. Kaplan and L.E. Kazis.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209152. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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