OBJECTIVES: To estimate the impact on quality of life and the QALY decrement associated with Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in the hospital setting.

METHODS: An observational prospective study was performed in 7 French acute-care facilities in 2016 where patients presenting with a bacteriologically-confirmed CDI were randomly enrolled. The EQ-5D-3L was filled in by patients at 7 (+/-2) days after CDI diagnosis to describe their perceived state of health at that date and also to retrospectively assess their state of health as of immediately before the episode (baseline). Individual utility decrement was obtained by subtracting the corresponding utilities using the French tariffs. The QALY loss was calculated by multiplying the days spent from baseline (first symptoms) to the date of the interview, by the decrement of utility. A multivariate analysis of variance of the utility decrement according to CDI and patients and infection characteristics was performed.

RESULTS:

CONCLUSIONS: The impact on quality of life of CDI episodes aside from the consequence of excess mortality is major and translates in a substantial QALY loss despite their short duration.