Correlations between bed occupancy rates and Clostridium difficile infections: a time-series analysis

• Published in: Epidemiology and infection Vol. 139; no. 3; pp. 482 - 485
• Main Authors: KAIER, K., LUFT, D., DETTENKOFER, M., KIST, M., FRANK, U.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.03.2011
• Subjects: Arithmetic mean; Bacteriology; Bed Occupancy - statistics & numerical data; Bed occupancy rate; Biological and medical sciences; Clostridium difficile; Clostridium difficile - isolation & purification; Clostridium Infections - epidemiology; Clostridium Infections - microbiology; Cross Infection - epidemiology; Cross Infection - microbiology; Epidemiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gastroenteritis; Hospital beds; Hospital units; Hospitals; Humans; Incidence; Infections; Intensive care; Intensive care units; Length of Stay; Microbiology; Miscellaneous; Time series analysis; Trends; Workloads; United States > US; infectious disease epidemiology; Clostridium difficile; Clostridiales; Bacteria; Epidemiology; Clostridiaceae; Incidence
• ISSN: 0950-2688; 1469-4409
• DOI: 10.1017/S0950268810001214

A time-series analysis was performed to identify the impact of bed occupancy rates and length of hospital stay on the incidence of Clostridium difficile infections (CDI). Between January 2003 and July 2008, a mean incidence of 0·5 CDI cases/1000 patient days was recorded. Application of a multivariate model (R2=0·50) showed that bed occupancy rates on general wards (P<0·01) and length of stay in intensive care units (ICUs) (P<0·01) influenced the incidence of CDI. Overcrowding on general wards and long periods in ICUs were identified as being positively associated with the incidence of CDI.