Long-term care operators and other healthcare providers are having limited success in combating Clostridium difficile infections, despite increasing their efforts in the last three years, according to recently released survey results.
More than 1,000 members of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) responded to a survey measuring progress in addressing C. diff. Nine percent of the respondents self-identified as working in long-term care.
Although 70% of survey respondents said their organization has implemented C. diff interventions since March 2010, only 42% have seen a decline in facility-associated C. diff infection rates. Forty-three percent have seen no decline in rates.
The lack of success may be tied to staffing levels. Only 21% of respondents said more infection prevention staff had been hired since 2010. This level of hiring is “not commensurate with the scope of the problem,” according to the APIC report.
While 92% of respondents said they’ve enhanced environmental cleaning and equipment decontamination practices in the last three years, many are not thoroughly monitoring room cleanliness.
The findings were presented Monday at APIC’s 2013 Clostridium difficile Educational and Consensus Conference in Baltimore.
