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Risk Factors Associated With Clostridium difficile Diarrhea in Hospitalized Adult Patients: A Case-Control Study—Sucralfate Ingestion is Not a Negative Risk Factor

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Paul W. Watanakunakorn ,
Chatrchai Watanakunakorn  and
John Hazy
Paul W. Watanakunakorn
Affiliation:
Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, Rootstown, Ohio
Chatrchai Watanakunakorn
Affiliation:
Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, Rootstown, Ohio Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, and the Infectious Disease Section, Department of Internal Medicine, Rootstown, Ohio
John Hazy
Affiliation:
Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, Division of Clinical Research, St Elizabeth Hospital Medical Center, Youngstown, Ohio
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Abstract

Objectives:

To assess risk factors associated with Clostridium difficile diarrhea in hospitalized adult patients, and to test the hypothesis that sucralfate ingestion is associated with nondetection of C difficile cytotoxin in stool specimens.

Design:

A retrospective case-control study of hospitalized adult patients who had stool specimens assayed for C difficile cytotoxin. For each patient who had positive C difficile cytotoxin, a patient who had negative C difficile cytotoxin was used as a control. The study period was January to December 1993.

Setting:

A community teaching hospital affiliated with a medical school in northeastern Ohio.

Results:

There were 91 case patients and 91 control patients. Cephalosporin exposure was identified as a risk factor in patients with C difficile diarrhea. The number of patients who had sucralfate ingestion was comparable in both groups of patients.

Conclusions:

Administration of cephalosporins was identified as a risk factor in patients with C difficile diar-rhea. We were not able to confirm a recent report of the association between ingestion of sucralfate and nondetection of C difficile cytotoxin in stool specimens. Our findings suggest that sucralfate ingestion is not associated with nondetection of C difficile cytotoxin in stool specimens. Assay ofC difficile cytotoxin in stool specimens remains a valid method of diagnosing C difficile diarrhea, even in patients who ingest sucralfate.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 17 , Issue 4 , April 1996 , pp. 232 - 235
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1996 

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