Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26503394›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2015

Multimorbidity in elderly hospitalised patients and risk of Clostridium difficile infection: a retrospective study with the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS).

Andrea Ticinesi, Antonio Nouvenne, Giuseppina Folesani, Beatrice Prati, Ilaria Morelli, Loredana Guida, Francesca Turroni, Marco Ventura, Fulvio Lauretani, Marcello Maggio and 1 more

Open access · goldAbstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
22citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
3.7field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
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

22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  6. How to Assess Health Gains.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
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  7. Antimicrobial stewardship & healthcare epidemiology : ASHE · 2025
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  11. Review
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  15. Digestive disorders and Intestinal microbiota.Acta bio-medica : Atenei Parmensis · 2018
    Review
  16. Increasing Age Has Limited Impact on Risk ofOpen forum infectious diseases · 2018
    Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Impact of Underlying Conditions on Zoster-Related Pain and on Quality of Life Following Zoster.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2017
    Observational
  20. [Clostridium difficile infections in geriatric patients].Zeitschrift fur Gerontologie und Geriatrie · 2016
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Andrea TicinesiInternal Medicine and Critical Subacute Care Unit, Parma University Hospital, Parma, Italy Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Antonio NouvenneInternal Medicine and Critical Subacute Care Unit, Parma University Hospital, Parma, Italy Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Giuseppina FolesaniINAIL - CERT Research Center at University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Beatrice PratiInternal Medicine and Critical Subacute Care Unit, Parma University Hospital, Parma, Italy Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Ilaria MorelliInternal Medicine and Critical Subacute Care Unit, Parma University Hospital, Parma, Italy.
Loredana GuidaInternal Medicine and Critical Subacute Care Unit, Parma University Hospital, Parma, Italy.
Francesca TurroniLaboratory of Probiogenomics, Department of Life Sciences, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Marco VenturaLaboratory of Probiogenomics, Department of Life Sciences, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Fulvio LauretaniGeriatrics Unit, Parma University Hospital, Parma, Italy.
Marcello MaggioDepartment of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Tiziana MeschiInternal Medicine and Critical Subacute Care Unit, Parma University Hospital, Parma, Italy Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
University of Parma · ITIstituto Nazionale per l'Assicurazione Contro gli Infortuni sul Lavoro · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesTo identify the role of chronic comorbidities, considered together in a literature-validated index (Cumulative Illness Rating Scale, CIRS), and antibiotic or proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) treatments as risk factors for hospital-acquired Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in elderly multimorbid hospitalised patients.

designRetrospective cohort study.

settingSubacute hospital geriatric care ward in Italy.

participants505 (238 male (M), 268 female (F)) elderly (age≥65) multimorbid patients.

main outcome measuresThe relationship between CDI and CIRS Comorbidity Score, number of comorbidities, antibiotic, antifungal and PPI treatments, and length of hospital stay was assessed through age-adjusted and sex-adjusted and multivariate logistic regression models. The CIRS Comorbidity Score was handled after categorisation in quartiles.

resultsMean age was 80.7±11.3 years. 43 patients (22 M, 21 F) developed CDI. The prevalence of CDI increased among quartiles of CIRS Comorbidity Score (3.9% first quartile vs 11.1% fourth quartile, age-adjusted and sex-adjusted p=0.03). In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, patients in the highest quartile of CIRS Comorbidity Score (≥17) carried a significantly higher risk of CDI (OR 5.07, 95% CI 1.28 to 20.14, p=0.02) than patients in the lowest quartile (<9). The only other variable significantly associated with CDI was antibiotic therapy (OR 2.62, 95% CI 1.21 to 5.66, p=0.01). PPI treatment was not associated with CDI.

conclusionsMultimorbidity, measured through CIRS Comorbidity Score, is independently associated with the risk of CDI in a population of elderly patients with prolonged hospital stay.

Indexed as

Length of StayAgedAged, 80 and overAnti-Bacterial AgentsClostridium InfectionsComorbidityCross InfectionFemaleHumansItalyLogistic ModelsMaleMultivariate AnalysisProton Pump InhibitorsRetrospective StudiesRisk FactorsAnti-Bacterial AgentsProton Pump InhibitorsAntibioticClostridium difficileElderlyMultimorbidityProton pump inhibitors

Identifiers

PMID26503394
PMCPMC4636642
OpenAlexW2199539227

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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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.