Journal List > Ann Clin Microbiol > v.26(3) > 1516087182

Chung, Kim, Cho, Park, and Shin: A survey of physicians’ perceptions of diagnostic tests for Clostridioides difficile infection

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to investigate perceptions of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) diagnostic tests among physicians who prescribe CDI diagnostic tests as part of providing direct patient care. Methods: In August 2018, we provided a 12-question survey of gastroenterologists (the most common referral source for CDI testing) to 35 medical institutions in Korea, asking them about their perceptions of CDI diagnosis and testing. Results: A comparison of the perceptions of physicians and clinical pathologists (CPs) found that physicians had a lower perceived sensitivity of the toxin AB enzyme immunoassay test. For nucleic acid amplification tests, physicians exhibited a perception of higher assay sensitivity and specificity than CPs. The specificity of culture tests was generally perceived as high by physicians, whereas CPs regarding expressed mixed opinions. All but one physician and one CPs found the algorithmic test useful. Concerning the CDI isolation criteria, physicians commenced patient isolation by concurrently assessing both test results and clinical symptoms, rather than exclusively relying upon test results. Among CPs, 84.6% said they could rely on symptoms to determine when to release a patient from isolation, while 46.2% of physicians said they would rely on test results. Conclusion: This study provides useful information on the status of laboratory diagnosis of CDI in Korea and what needs to be improved, which will help to standardize and improve laboratory diagnosis of CDI in Korea.

[in Korean]

Ethics statement

This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Inje University Sanggye Paik Hospital (IRB No. SGPAIK-2018-10-010), which waived the requirement for informed consent.

Conflicts of interest

Hae-Sun Chung has been an editor-in-chief of the Annals of Clinical Microbiology since January 2022. However, she was not involved in the review process of this article. No other potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Acknowledgements

We thank all the physicians and clinical pathologists who responded to the survey.

Funding

This work was supported by the Research Program funded by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2017NP280600).

REFERENCES

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Fig. 1.
Comparison of perceptions of the sensitivity and specificity of diagnostic tests for Clostridioides difficile infection among physicians and clinical pathologists. EIA, enzyme immunoassay; NAAT, nucleic acid amplification test.
ACM-2603-05-f1.png
Table 1
Comparison of perceptions of diagnostic tests for Clostridioides difficile infection among physicians and clinical patholosits
ACM-2603-05-t1.png

Abbreviation: NAAT, nucleic acid amplification test

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