Prevalence of Clostridioides difficile contamination in the healthcare environment and instruments: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVESWorldwide, Clostridioides difficile infection is becoming one of the most common healthcare-associated infections (۱,۲). Management and control of this infection in healthcare facilities are associated with screening for environmental and instrumental C. difficile contamination (۳). This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the overall prevalence of C. difficile in hospital settings, medical devices, and instruments.MATERIALS AND METHODSFour main databases, PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Scopus, were searchedusing the keywords Clostridioides difficile, Clostridium difficile, C. difficile, clostridia, Clostridium spp., hospital environments, antibiotic associate colitis, intensive care unit, and ward in combination as a search strategy. The PRISMA checklist was used for selecting eligible studies.RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONA total of ۱۱ eligible articles published between ۲۰۱۲ and ۲۰۲۱ were included. The overall pooled prevalence of C. difficile in hospital environments was ۱۴.۹%. The highest and lowest prevalence were reported for India (۵۱.۱%) and the USA (۱.۶%), respectively. The highest prevalence was reported for beds (۴۶.۳%). A significant heterogeneity was seen between C. difficile prevalence in hospital environments in different samples. The highest and lowest prevalence was reporte d for floor corners (۶۳.۲%) and privacy curtains (۱.۴%), respectively.CONCLUSIONIn conclusion, hospitals' medical devices and environmental surfaces are considered a crucial source of Clostridioides difficile infection. In this regard, we strongly recommend revising and improving the cleaning and disinfection methods in hospitals and quality control of cleaning adequacy.