ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) is a significant cause of mortality and morbidity in hospitalized patients. Several scores have developed in order to assess the severity of CDAD. OBJECTIVE: To determine the role of the serum albumin to creatinine ratio (sACR) in predicting the 30-day all-cause mortality of patients with CDAD in comparison with other known severity scores of CDAD. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted at Baruch-Padeh Medical Center from January 2014 to December 2019. Patients with CDAD were recruited from Internal Medicine Departments, Intensive Care Units, and Surgical Departments. Data on demographic characteristics, clinical signs, underlying conditions, and several risk factors for CD infection were collected. We compared between severity scores of CDAD, such as ATLAS, the CDAD severity score, and the sACR in predicting the 30-day all-cause mortality in hospitalized patients with CDAD. RESULTS: 116 patients with CDAD were included. The ATLAS, CDAD scores, and sACR were calculated for all patients. The mean age of the participants was 71.4±16.4 years. 57.7% were of female gender. Fifty-two (44.8%) died within 30 days. An ATLAS score of ≥8 points had a 3.6-fold higher risk of 30-day all-cause mortality in hospitalized patients with CDAD (HR 3.6, 95% CI 3.28-3.99, p=0.001), a CDAD score of ≥5 points (HR 1.1, 95% CI 0.91-1.42, p=0.05), and a sACR≤3.4 (HR 1.5, 95%CI 1.25-1.82, p=0.04). CONCLUSION: In this study, it was found that a sACR≤3.4 could predict the 30-day all-cause mortality in patients with CDAD.