Objective: To investigate the clinical features, risk factors and prognosis of Clostridium difficile infection/colonization (CDI/CDC) in emergency intensive care unit (EICU) of Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, then provides theoretical basis for clinical treatment.
Methods: A retrospective case-control study was conducted. The data of EICU patients admitted to Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine from June 2016 to June 2020 were collected. Taking the CDI/CDC patients as research objects [Clostridium difficile (CD) positive group] and the CD negative patients with the same gender and age difference less than 5 years who were admitted to the hospital during the same period as the control (CD negative group). Demographic information, risk factors, prognosis and stool samples were collected. Single factor analysis and binary Logistic regression were used to analyze the CD positive infection rate, risk factors, and hospital death of patients with different clinical characteristics.
Results: About 487 patients in EICU were included, 76 cases were taken into CD positive group, CD positive rate was 15.6%, including CDI 11 cases, CDC 65 cases. Among the CD positive group, all of the cases used proton pump inhibitor (PPI), and 75 cases used at least one antibiotic. Seventy-six CD negative patients with or without diarrhea (CD negative group) were included in this study. Among them, 75 patients used PPI and 74 patients used at least one antibiotic. Univariate analysis showed that acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II), duration of hospitalization, and carbapenem use were the risk factors for CDI/CDC. There were significant differences in the above indicators between CD positive group and CD negative group [APACHE II: 18.0 (12.2, 25.8) vs. 10.0 (7.0, 14.0), duration of hospitalization (days): 46.0 (30.5, 72.5) vs. 18.5 (9.2, 37.0), proportion of carbapenems: 81.6% (62/76) vs. 64.5% (49/76), all P < 0.05]. Binary Logistic analysis regression analysis showed that APACHE II score [odds ratio (OR) = 0.802, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was 0.730-0.882, P < 0.01] and duration of hospitalization (OR = 0.960, 95%CI was 0.942-0.978, P < 0.01) were independent risk factors for CDI/CDC. There was no difference in overall mortality between the CD positive group and CD negative group [27.6% (21/76) vs. 38.2% (29/76), P = 0.167].
Conclusions: Critically ill patients in EICU routinely use PPI and antibiotics, and the use of antibiotics does not affect the CD positive rate. The independent risk factors of CDI/CDC are the APACHE II score and the duration of hospitalization, but fecal CD positive has no obvious influence on death.