Accuracy of ICD-10 Codes for Surveillance of Clostridium difficile Infections, France - Vol. 18 No. 6 - June 2012 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC

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Accuracy of ICD-10 Codes for Surveillance of Clostridium difficile Infections, France - Vol. 18 No. 6 - June 2012 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC

Volume 18, Number 6—June 2012

Dispatch

Accuracy of ICD-10 Codes for Surveillance of Clostridium difficile Infections, France

Article Contents

• The Study
• Conclusions
• Acknowledgment
• References
• Figure 1
• Figure 2
• Table
• Suggested Citation

 

Gabrielle Jones , Namik Taright, Pierre Yves Boelle, Jeanne Marty, Valérie Lalande, Catherine Eckert, and Frédéric Barbut

Author affiliations: Sainte-Antoine Hospital–Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France

Suggested citation for this article

Abstract

The sensitivity and specificity of surveillance for Clostridium difficile infections according to International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision, codes were compared with laboratory results as standard. Sensitivity was 35.6%; specificity was 99.9%. Concordance between the 2 methods was moderate. Surveillance based on ICD-10 codes underestimated the rate based on laboratory results.

Clostridium difficile causes 15%–25% of diarrhea after antimicrobial drug therapy and is the leading cause of nosocomial diarrhea in adults (1). Studies in the United States, Canada, and Europe have documented the increased rate and severity of C. difficile infections highlighting the need for efficient and accurate methods of surveillance (2–7). The use of International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes for surveillance of C. difficile infections has been studied in the United States and in Singapore and showed discordant results (8–12). Our objective was to compare the sensitivity and specificity of surveillance for C. difficile infections on the basis of ICD, 10th revision (ICD-10), codes with surveillance based on laboratory results.