The DiRTE Lab team completed a retrospective analysis of inpatient C. difficile tests from 2015 to 2021 at 3 university-affiliated hospitals in North Carolina. We calculated the number of C. difficile tests per 1,000 patient days stratified by race: White, Black, and non-White, non-Black (NWNB). We defined a unique C. difficile test as one that occurred in an inpatient unit with a matching laboratory accession ID and on differing calendar days. Tests were evaluated overall, by hospital, by year, and by positivity rate.
White patients received more C. difficile tests than Black and NWNB patient groups when controlling for race patient days. Future studies should control for comorbidities and investigate community onset of C. difficile by race and ethnicity.
This article, which was originally published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, was also featured in the HCP Live article "Black Patients Receive Less C Diff Tests Despite Similar Positivity Rates to White Patients."