AbstractBackgroundAntimicrobial stewardship has been associated with a reduction in the incidence of health care associated Clostridium difficile infection (HA-CDI). However, CDI remains under-recognized in many low and middle-income countries where clinical and surveillance resources required to identify HA-CDI are often lacking. The rate of toxigenic C. difficile stool positivity in the stool of hospitalized patients may offer an alternative metric for these settings, but its utlity remains largely untested.Aim/ObjectiveTo examine the impact of an antimicrobial stewardship on the rate of toxigenic C. difficile positivity among hospitalized patients presenting with diarrhoeaMethodsA 12-year retrospective review of laboratory data was conducted to compare the rates of toxigenic C. difficile in diarrhoea stool of patients in a hospital in Saudi Arabia, before and after implementation of an antimicrobial stewardship programResultThere was a significant decline in the rate of toxigenic C difficile positivity from 9.8 to 7.4% following the implementation of the antimicrobial stewardship program, and a reversal of a rising trend.DiscussionThe rate of toxigenic C. difficile positivity may be a useful patient outcome metric for evaluating the long term impact of antimicrobial stewardship on CDI, especially in settings with limited surveillance resources. The accuracy of this metric is however dependent on the avoidance of arbitrary repeated testing of a patient for cure, and testing only unformed or diarrhoea stool specimens. Further studies are required within and beyond Saudi Arabia to examine the utility of this metric.
Evaluation of Patient Outcome, Satisfaction, and Attitudes towards Integrative Medicine Model in Saudi Arabia: A Pilot Study
