Dataset Information

Cost and Impact on Patient Length of Stay of Rapid Molecular Testing for Clostridium difficile.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

A study was performed to assess the cost of a rapid molecular assay (PCR) for diagnosis of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and the impact of its routine use on patient length of stay (LOS) in comparison with cell culture cytotoxin neutralization assay (CCNA).

Methods

From March 2011 to September 2011, Xpert(®) C. difficile (Cepheid, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) PCR was used on patients with suspicion of CDI in two acute care hospitals in Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board, Swansea, Wales, UK. Test results were used for patient management. LOS and time to reportable result were compared for negative and positive prospective patients tested by PCR and historic control patients tested by CCNA during March 2010 to September 2010. Tests were priced using micro-costing and a cost comparison analysis was undertaken.

Results

In total, 506 patients were included. Time to reportable result for PCR samples was 1.53 h compared to 46.54 h for CCNA negatives and 22.45 h for CCNA positives. Patients tested by CCNA stayed 4.88 days longer in hospital compared to PCR patients if they tested positive and 7.03 days if tests were negative. The mean reduction in LOS observed in our study has the potential to generate cost savings of up to £2,292.62 for every patient with suspected CDI, if samples were to be tested routinely with PCR instead of CCNA.

Conclusion

A rapid molecular test for C. difficile in an acute hospital setting produced quick results that led to a decrease in LOS compared to historic CCNA control patients. This could result in considerable savings through reduced excess inpatient days.

SUBMITTER: Sewell B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4269620 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Cost and Impact on Patient Length of Stay of Rapid Molecular Testing for Clostridium difficile.

Sewell Bernadette B Rees Eugene E Thomas Ian I Ch'ng Chin Lye CL Isaac Mike M Berry Nidhika N

Infectious diseases and therapy 20140903 2

<h4>Introduction</h4>A study was performed to assess the cost of a rapid molecular assay (PCR) for diagnosis of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and the impact of its routine use on patient length of stay (LOS) in comparison with cell culture cytotoxin neutralization assay (CCNA).<h4>Methods</h4>From March 2011 to September 2011, Xpert(®) C. difficile (Cepheid, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) PCR was used on patients with suspicion of CDI in two acute care hospitals in Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University ...[more]

PMID: 25183400

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Project description:IntroductionIn the developed world, Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is the most important cause of nosocomial infectious diarrhea. In addition to providing epidemiological data and helping to indicate that a local outbreak may be occurring, laboratory tests are used to augment clinical decisions on individual patients. Very rarely do diagnostic tests provide results at the point of decision making; in the intervening period between requesting investigations on a patient with suspected CDI and return of the laboratory result, decisions must be made regarding patient isolation and treatment.MethodsA 22-month, real-world feasibility study was conducted in patients with clinically significant diarrhea, in a London Hospital between March 2011 and January 2013, in three older persons' wards and two intensive care units (ICUs) to determine acceptability, ease of use, change in turnaround time and clinical utility of a rapid, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based point-of-care test (POCT) (Cepheid GeneXpert(®), Sunnyvale, California, USA) for diagnosis of Clostridium difficile. Nurses in the older persons' ward and laboratory technicians in the ICU were trained to perform the test. Residual samples were sent to the centralized laboratory for parallel testing using a two-step algorithm.ResultsA total of 335 samples were tested using the POCT with a median turnaround time of 1.85 h compared with 18 h for the centralized laboratory test. Overall agreement with centralized laboratory testing was 98.1%. Discrepant samples were more frequent on elderly wards than ICU. Overall 20/335 (6%) processing errors were encountered and were highest in the first few months of the study. Significantly more processing errors occurred on the older persons' wards 13/102 (12.7%) than on ICU 7/271 (2.6%). Older persons' patients who had POCT were significantly less likely to have a test requested for bacterial stool culture (3.1% vs. 10.9% p = 0.044). This difference was not observed in the ICU patients. No other differences in ancillary test requesting, mortality or length of stay were observed.ConclusionsThe majority of users reported that the POCT was easy to perform and was an acceptable part of their job. POCT using this system is feasible and acceptable to nursing staff and technicians working within these two hospital-based settings.

Dataset Information

Cost and Impact on Patient Length of Stay of Rapid Molecular Testing for Clostridium difficile.

Introduction

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Cost and Impact on Patient Length of Stay of Rapid Molecular Testing for Clostridium difficile.

Similar Datasets

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