How C. diff affects cost for pediatric hospitalizations

Clostridium difficile infection in hospitalized pediatric patients has an economic burden similar to adult estimates, according to a study published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.

Researchers examined discharge records of 2-to-18-year-old patients taken from from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Kids' Inpatient Database. They identified 8,527 pediatric hospitalizations with a C. diff diagnosis and 1.59 million discharges without C. diff.

The study shows attributable cost of C. diff occurring during a hospitalization ranged from $1,917 to $8,317, depending on whether model was adjusted for length of stay. When not adjusting for LOS, C. diff-associated hospitalizations cost 1.6 times more than non-C. diff associated hospitalizations. Attributable LOS of C. diff was approximately four days.

"Pediatric CDI cost analyses should account for LOS as an important confounder of cost," study authors concluded.

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