The Burden of Clostridium Difficile Infection in Thai Population: the First Report in Southeast Asia by 2010 Nationwide Study

The authors retrieved in-patient medical data, including the expense, from the 2010 Thailand Nationwide Hospital Admission Database, which is part of the National Health Security Office (NHSO). The diagnosis of digestive diseases with any form of colitis listed in the causes, either as principal diagnosis or co-morbidity, coding by the ICD-10 was recorded. The inclusion criteria were: 1) diagnosis of enterocolitis due to Clostridium difficile (ICD10-A07); and 2) age of more than 18 years. If the data was incomplete, the case was excluded. The baseline characteristics, including age, sex, co-morbidity disease and history of endoscopy or surgery, were recorded. The burden of CDI was evaluated by length of hospital stay (LOS), mortality rate, and hospital charge.