Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25732416›Full record

SynthesisThe American journal of gastroenterology2015

Colonization with toxinogenic C. difficile upon hospital admission, and risk of infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Ioannis M Zacharioudakis, Fainareti N Zervou, Elina Eleftheria Pliakos, Panayiotis D Ziakas, Eleftherios Mylonakis

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in The American journal of gastroenterology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 113 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
113citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

113 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. The value of fecal calprotectin inFrontiers in physiology · 2022
    Pooled it
  2. Guideline
  3. Guideline
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Trial
  8. Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026
    Article
  9. Relationship BetweenOpen forum infectious diseases · 2026
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Open forum infectious diseases · 2026
    Article
  13. Article
  14. Risk factors for progression fromInfection control and hospital epidemiology · 2026
    Article
  15. Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025
    Observational
  16. Article
  17. Natural History of Clostridioides difficile-Related Disease Progression in the 2-Step Testing Era.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2025
    Article
  18. Global Patterns ofCrohn's & colitis 360 · 2025
    Article
  19. Observational
  20. Observational

53 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Ioannis M ZacharioudakisInfectious Diseases Division, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Fainareti N ZervouInfectious Diseases Division, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Elina Eleftheria PliakosInfectious Diseases Division, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Panayiotis D ZiakasInfectious Diseases Division, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Eleftherios MylonakisInfectious Diseases Division, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesIt has been suggested that colonization with C. difficile protects from infection. Nevertheless, the association between carriage of toxinogenic strains and ensuing C. difficile infections (CDIs) has not been studied.

methodsWe searched PubMed and EMBASE databases up to 20 June 2014, using the term "difficile". Our primary outcomes of interest included the prevalence of isolation of toxinogenic C. difficile or its toxins from asymptomatic patients on hospital admission through stool or rectal swab testing and the risk of ensuing infection among colonized and noncolonized patients. Data on previous hospitalization, antibiotic, and proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use and prior CDIs among colonized and noncolonized patients were also extracted.

resultsNineteen out of 26,081 studies on 8,725 patients were included. The pooled prevalence of toxinogenic C. difficile colonization was 8.1% (95% confidence interval (CI) 5.7-11.1%), with an increasing trend over time (P=0.003), and 10.0% (95% CI 7.1-13.4%) among North American studies. Patients colonized upon hospital admission had a 5.9 times higher risk of subsequent CDIs compared with noncolonized patients (relative risk (RR) 5.86; 95% CI 4.21-8.16). The risk of CDI for colonized patients was 21.8% (95% CI 7.9-40.1%), which was significantly higher than that of noncolonized patients (3.4%; 95% CI 1.5-6.0%; P=0.03), with an attributable risk of 18.4%. History of hospitalization during the previous 3 months was associated with a higher risk of colonization (RR 1.63; 95% CI 1.13-2.34), as opposed to previous antibiotic (RR 1.07; 95% CI 0.75-1.53) and PPI use (RR 1.44; 95% CI 0.94-2.23), as well as history of CDI (RR 1.45; 95% CI 0.66-3.18) that had no impact.

conclusionsOver 8% of admitted patients are carriers of toxinogenic C. difficile with an almost 6 times higher risk of infection. These findings update current knowledge regarding the contribution of colonization in CDI epidemiology and stress the importance of preventive measures toward colonized patients.

Indexed as

Clostridioides difficileEnterocolitis, PseudomembranousCross InfectionHumansOutcome Assessment, Health CarePrevalenceRisk Factors

Identifiers

PMID25732416

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.