Risk of Clostridium difficile-associated disease among patients receiving proton-pump inhibitors in a Quebec medical intensive care unit.

Our study was conducted to determine whether use of gastric acid-suppressive agents increased the risk of Clostridium difficile-associated disease (CDAD) in a medical intensive care unit of one of the first hospitals to be threatened by the current CDAD epidemic in Quebec, Canada. Our findings suggest that efforts to determine risk factors for CDAD should focus on other areas, such as older age and antibiotic use.