Prediction of Recurrent Clostridium Difficile Infection Using Comprehensive Electronic Medical Records in an Integrated Healthcare Delivery System.

Link to article at PubMed

Related Articles

Prediction of Recurrent Clostridium Difficile Infection Using Comprehensive Electronic Medical Records in an Integrated Healthcare Delivery System.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2017 Aug 24;:1-8

Authors: Escobar GJ, Baker JM, Kipnis P, Greene JD, Mast TC, Gupta SB, Cossrow N, Mehta V, Liu V, Dubberke ER

Abstract
BACKGROUND Predicting recurrent Clostridium difficile infection (rCDI) remains difficult.
METHODS: We employed a retrospective cohort design. Granular electronic medical record (EMR) data had been collected from patients hospitalized at 21 Kaiser Permanente Northern California hospitals. The derivation dataset (2007-2013) included data from 9,386 patients who experienced incident CDI (iCDI) and 1,311 who experienced their first CDI recurrences (rCDI). The validation dataset (2014) included data from 1,865 patients who experienced incident CDI and 144 who experienced rCDI. Using multiple techniques, including machine learning, we evaluated more than 150 potential predictors. Our final analyses evaluated 3 models with varying degrees of complexity and 1 previously published model. RESULTS Despite having a large multicenter cohort and access to granular EMR data (eg, vital signs, and laboratory test results), none of the models discriminated well (c statistics, 0.591-0.605), had good calibration, or had good explanatory power. CONCLUSIONS Our ability to predict rCDI remains limited. Given currently available EMR technology, improvements in prediction will require incorporating new variables because currently available data elements lack adequate explanatory power. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;1-8.

PMID: 28835289 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *