Volume 18, Number 2—February 2012
Dispatch
Determining Mortality Rates Attributable to Clostridium difficile Infection
Susy S. Hota
, Camille Achonu, Natasha S. Crowcroft, Bart J. Harvey, Albert Lauwers, and Michael A. Gardam
, Camille Achonu, Natasha S. Crowcroft, Bart J. Harvey, Albert Lauwers, and Michael A. GardamTable 1
Proportion of deaths attributable to CDI, by panel review coding and death certificate classification, Ontario, Canada, April 2007–February 2008*
| Reference category | Death certificate, no. (%) |
Panel review, no.† | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CDI as primary cause of death | CDI as primary or secondary cause of death | CDI as unrelated cause of death | Missing information | ||
| Directly/strongly attributable to CDI | 6 (6) | 37 (37) | 61 (60) | 3 (3) | 101 |
| Somewhat/unrelated to CDI | 1 (2) | 14 (29) | 35 (71) | 0 | 49 |
| Insufficient information |
0 |
0 |
1 (100) |
0 |
1 |
| Total | 7 (5) | 51 (34) | 97 (64) | 3 (2) | 151 |
*CDI, Clostridium difficile infection.
†Categories determined by panel review. Because panel review was considered the reference standard, panel review percentages = 100%.
