Clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile infection in Japanese hospitals 2008–2017: A real-world nationwide analysis of treatment pattern,incidence and testing density

ObjectiveTo characterize treatment pattern, incidence and diagnosis of hospital-onset Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) in Japan, cases were studied over a 9-year period using a large, administrative database.MethodsThis was a retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of inpatients at 320 Japanese Diagnosis-Procedure Combination (DPC) hospitals. Hospitalizations between April 2008 and March 2017 were extracted for patients aged ≥18 years. CDI was defined as CDI treatment plus CDI diagnosis or positive enzyme immunoassay (EIA) result. Endpoints included treatment (type, route, daily dose, duration), time to CDI onset from admission, and time to recurrence (rCDI) from the end of treatment. Chronological changes were reported for treatment pattern, CDI incidence and EIA testing.ResultsThe analysis included 11,823 CDI hospitalizations, 1359 with rCDI. Overall, oral metronidazole (MNZ), oral vancomycin (VCM), and intravenous MNZ were used in 50.2%, 42.1% and 1.2% of CDI hospitalizations, respectively. From 2009 to 2017, CDI hospitalizations treated with MNZ more than doubled and VCM more than halved. Median (Q1–Q3) time to CDI and rCDI onset was 25 (11–52) days and 10 (6–17.5) days, respectively. Median treatment duration ranged from 8 to 10 days and median dose was 1 g/day for both MNZ and VCM. CDI incidence remained steady from 2010 until 2017 (0.99/10,000 patient-days) and EIA testing density doubled from 2008 to 2017 (24.46/10,000 patient-days).ConclusionOral MNZ has become the primary CDI treatment in Japanese DPC hospitals. The treatment duration and dose were aligned to the package insert. CDI diagnostic testing density increased over time, CDI incidence did not.Clinical trial registration numberN/A.