Factors associated with Clostridium difficile infection: A nested case-control study in a three year prospective cohort.

BACKGROUND: Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a serious medical condition that is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Identification of risk factors associated with CDI and prompt recognition of patients at risk is key to successfully preventing CDI. METHODS: A 3-year prospective, observational, cohort study was conducted in a French university hospital and a nested case-control study was performed to identify risk factors for CDI. Inpatients aged 18 years or older, suffering from diarrhea suspected to be related to CDI, were asked to participate. RESULTS: A total of 945 patients were included, of which 233 cases had a confirmed CDI. CDI infection was more common in men (58.4%) (P = 0.04) compared with patients with diarrhea not related to C. difficile. Previous hospitalization (P < 0.001), prior treatment with antibiotics (P = 0.001) or antiperistaltics (P = 0.002), liver disease (P = 0.003), malnutrition (P < 0.001), and previous CDI (P < 0.001) were significantly more common in patients with CDI. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that exposure to antibiotics in the last 60 days (especially third generation cephalosporins and penicillins with ß-lactamase inhibitor), chronic renal or liver disease, malnutrition or previous CDI, were associated with an independent high risk of CDI. Age was not related with CDI. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that antibiotics and some comorbid conditions were predictors of CDI. Patients at high risk of acquiring CDI at the time of admission may benefit from careful monitoring of antibiotic prescriptions and early attention to infection control issues. In future, these "high-risk" patients may benefit from novel agents being developed to prevent CDI.

Impact of a transition nurse program on the prevention of thirty-day hospital readmissions of elderly patients discharged from short-stay units: study protocol of the PROUST stepped-wedge cluster randomised trial.

BACKGROUND: In France, for patients aged 75 or older, it has been estimated that the hospital readmission rate within 30 days is 14 %, a quarter being avoidable. Some evidence suggests that interventions "bridging" the transition from hospital to home and involving a designated professional (usually nurses) are the most effective in reducing the risk of readmission, but the level of evidence of current studies is low. Our study aims to assess the impact of a care transition program from hospital to home for elderly admitted to short-stay units. METHODS: This is a multicentre, stepped-wedge cluster randomised trial. The program will be implemented at three times of the transition: 1) during the patient's stay in hospital: development of a discharge plan, creation of a transitional care file, and notification of the primary care physician about inpatient care and hospital discharge by the transition nurse; 2) on the day of discharge: meeting between the transition nurse and the patient to review the follow-up recommendations; and 3) for 4 weeks after discharge: follow-up by the transition nurse. The primary outcome is the 30-day unscheduled hospital readmission or emergency visit rate after the index hospital discharge. The patients enrolled will be aged 75 or older, hospitalized in an acute care geriatric unit, and at risk of hospital readmission or an emergency visit after returning home. In all, 630 patients will be included over a 14-month period. Data analysis will be blinded to allocation, but due to the nature of the intervention, physicians and patients will not be blinded. DISCUSSION: Our study makes it possible to evaluate the specific effect of a bridging intervention involving a designated professional intervening before, during, and after hospital discharge. The strengths of the study design are methodological and practical. It permits the estimation of the intervention effect using between- and within-cluster comparisons; the study of the fluctuations in unscheduled hospital readmission or emergency visit rates; the participation of all clusters in the intervention condition; the implementation of the intervention in each cluster successively. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study has been registered as a cRCT at clinicaltrials.gov (identifier: NCT02421133 ). Registered 9 March 2015.

Practical management of frailty in older patients with heart failure: Statement from a panel of multidisciplinary experts on behalf the Heart Failure Working Group of the French Society of Cardiology and on behalf French Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology.

AIMS: The heart failure (HF) prognosis in older patients remains poor with a high 5-years mortality rate more frequently attributed to noncardiovascular causes. The complex interplay between frailty and heart failure contribute to poor health outcomes of older adults with HF independently of ejection fraction. The aim of this position paper is to propose a practical management of frailty in older patients with heart failure. METHODS: A panel of multidisciplinary experts on behalf the Heart Failure Working Group of the French Society of Cardiology and on behalf French Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology conducted a systematic literature search on the interlink between frailty and HF, met to propose an early frailty screening by non-geriatricians and to propose ways to implement management plan of frailty. Statements were agreed by expert consensus. RESULTS: Clinically relevant aspects of interlink between frailty and HF have been reported to identify the population eligible for screening and the most suitable screening test(s). The frailty screening program proposed focuses on frailty model defined by an accumulation of deficits including geriatric syndromes, comorbidities, for older patients with HF in different settings of care. The management plan of frailty includes optimization of HF pharmacological treatments and non-surgical device treatment as well as optimization of a global patient-centred biopsychosocial blended collaborative care pathway. CONCLUSION: The current manuscript provides practical recommendations on how to screen and optimize frailty management in older patients with heart failure.

Prevalence of iron deficiency in patients aged 75 years or older with heart failure.

BACKGROUND: The latest studies presented at the American Heart Association (AHA) meeting on heart failure and the update of the European Cardiology Society's (ECS) recommendations on heart failure in 2016 recommend intravenous iron supplementation in patients with heart failure, reduced ejection fraction and iron deficiency for improves walking performance and quality of life, and reduces morbidity. In the present study, we investigated the prevalence of iron deficiency in heart failure patients aged 75 years or older, as there is currently no data on these patients. METHODS: We performed an observational study on hospitalized patients in Geriatric Cardiology Department. Among the 462 patients hospitalized during eight months, 176 were eligible for inclusion; 22 patients was significant interference with an inflammatory syndrome (high ferritin with high C-reactive protein), and for 13 patients iron-related data were not available. For each patient included, a complete iron assessment and type of heart failure was available. RESULTS: A total of 141 patients were included, the mean age was 88 years (range: 75-101), and there were 52 (36.9%) of patients with reduced ejection fraction (EF), 37 (26.2%) with mid-range EF, and 52 (36.9%) with preserved EF. Irrespective of heart failure type, 73.8% had iron deficiency (95% CI: 65.7%-80.8%); this was found in 57.7% (95% CI: 43.2%-71.3%) of those with reduced EF, 78.4% (95% CI: 61.8%-90.2%) of those with mid-range EF, and 86.5% (95% CI: 74.2%-94.4%) of those with preserved EF (P = 0.003). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of iron deficiency was very high in very elderly patients with heart failure, especially those with HF with mid-range EF or HF with preserved EF.