ArticleMedical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making2015
An agent-based simulation model for Clostridium difficile infection control.
Article in Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- Simulation models for transmission of health care-associated infection: A systematic review.American journal of infection control · 2020Pooled it
- Clostridium difficile infection seasonality: patterns across hemispheres and continents - a systematic review.PloS one · 2015Pooled it
- Tracing the threads: a system dynamics and network diffusion model of kangaroo care implementation in neonatal care.Implementation science communications · 2026Article
- Enhancing Agent-Based Models with Real-Time Movement Data to Assess Impacts of Biosecurity Interventions on Disease Exposure in Healthcare Settings.ACM-BCB ... ... : the ... ACM Conference on Bioinformatics, Computational Biology and Biomedicine. ACM Conference on Bioinformatics, Computational Biology and Biomedicine · 2025Article
- Using contact network dynamics to implement efficient interventions against pathogen spread in hospital settings: A modelling study.PLoS medicine · 2024Article
- Spatial-temporal simulation for hospital infection spread and outbreaks of Clostridioides difficile.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Validating agent-based simulation model of hospital-associated Clostridioides difficile infection using primary hospital data.PloS one · 2023Article
- A review of epidemiological models of Clostridioides difficile transmission and control (2009-2021).Anaerobe · 2022Review
- A Data-Driven Framework for Identifying Intensive Care Unit Admissions Colonized With Multidrug-Resistant Organisms.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Representing Tuberculosis Transmission with Complex Contagion: An Agent-Based Simulation Modeling Approach.Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making · 2021Article
- Association of Visitor Contact Precautions With Estimated Hospital-Onset Clostridioides difficile Infection Rates in Acute Care Hospitals.JAMA network open · 2021Article
- The impact of vaccination to control COVID-19 burden in the United States: A simulation modeling approach.PloS one · 2021Article
- Comparing intervention strategies for reducing Clostridioides difficile transmission in acute healthcare settings: an agent-based modeling study.BMC infectious diseases · 2020Article
- ReducingInfection control and hospital epidemiology · 2020Article
- Modeling Clostridium difficile in a hospital setting: control and admissions of colonized and symptomatic patients.Theoretical biology & medical modelling · 2019Article
- EnABLe: An agent-based model to understand Listeria dynamics in food processing facilities.Scientific reports · 2019Article
- Interventions to Reduce the Incidence of Hospital-Onset Clostridium difficile Infection: An Agent-Based Modeling Approach to Evaluate Clinical Effectiveness in Adult Acute Care Hospitals.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2018Article
- Agent-Based Modeling in Public Health: Current Applications and Future Directions.Annual review of public health · 2018Review
- Antimicrobial Stewardship and Environmental Decontamination for the Control of Clostridium difficile Transmission in Healthcare Settings.Bulletin of mathematical biology · 2017Article
- An in silico evaluation of treatment regimens for recurrent Clostridium difficile infection.PloS one · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundControl of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is an increasingly difficult problem for health care institutions. There are commonly recommended strategies to combat CDI transmission, such as oral vancomycin for CDI treatment, increased hand hygiene with soap and water for health care workers, daily environmental disinfection of infected patient rooms, and contact isolation of diseased patients. However, the efficacy of these strategies, particularly for endemic CDI, has not been well studied. The objective of this research is to develop a valid, agent-based simulation model (ABM) to study C. difficile transmission and control in a midsized hospital.
methodsWe develop an ABM of a midsized hospital with agents such as patients, health care workers, and visitors. We model the natural progression of CDI in a patient using a Markov chain and the transmission of CDI through agent and environmental interactions. We derive input parameters from aggregate patient data from the 2007-2010 Wisconsin Hospital Association and published medical literature. We define a calibration process, which we use to estimate transition probabilities of the Markov model by comparing simulation results to benchmark values found in published literature.
resultsIn a comparison of CDI control strategies implemented individually, routine bleach disinfection of CDI-positive patient rooms provides the largest reduction in nosocomial asymptomatic colonization (21.8%) and nosocomial CDIs (42.8%). Additionally, vancomycin treatment provides the largest reduction in relapse CDIs (41.9%), CDI-related mortalities (68.5%), and total patient length of stay (21.6%).
conclusionWe develop a generalized ABM for CDI control that can be customized and further expanded to specific institutions and/or scenarios. Additionally, we estimate transition probabilities for a Markov model of natural CDI progression in a patient through calibration.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.