Lack of correlation between standardized antimicrobial administration ratios (SAARs) and healthcare-facility-onset Clostridioides difficile infection rates in Veterans Affairs medical facilities

Martin E Evans; Makoto M Jones; Kelly W Davis; Matthew T Lane; Loretta A Simbartl; Brian P McCauley; Natalie Gauldin; Gary A Roselle

doi:10.1017/ice.2022.281

Lack of correlation between standardized antimicrobial administration ratios (SAARs) and healthcare-facility-onset Clostridioides difficile infection rates in Veterans Affairs medical facilities

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2023 Jun;44(6):945-947. doi: 10.1017/ice.2022.281. Epub 2022 Dec 1.

Authors

Martin E Evans^{1

2

3}, Makoto M Jones^{4

5}, Kelly W Davis², Matthew T Lane², Loretta A Simbartl¹, Brian P McCauley¹, Natalie Gauldin¹, Gary A Roselle^{1

6

7}

Affiliations

¹ National Infectious Diseases Service, Specialty Care Services, Veterans Health Administration, US Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC.
² Lexington Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Lexington, Kentucky.
³ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Kentucky School of Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky.
⁴ VA Salt Lake City Health Care System, Salt Lake City, Utah.
⁵ Division of Epidemiology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah.
⁶ Cincinnati Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Cincinnati, Ohio.
⁷ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati School of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio.

PMID: 36451287
DOI: 10.1017/ice.2022.281

Abstract

We detected no correlation between standardized antimicrobial administration ratios (SAARs) and healthcare facility-onset Clostridioides difficile infection (HO-CDI) rates in 102 acute-care Veterans Affairs medical centers over 16 months. SAARs may be useful for investigating trends in local antimicrobial use, but no ratio threshold demarcated HO-CDI risk.

MeSH terms

Anti-Infective Agents* / therapeutic use
Clostridioides difficile*
Clostridium Infections* / epidemiology
Cross Infection* / epidemiology
Cross Infection* / prevention & control
Delivery of Health Care
Humans
Veterans*

Substances

Anti-Infective Agents