Adherence to Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Treatment of Candidemia at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Chester N. Ashong; Andrew S. Hunter; M. David Mansouri; Richard M. Cadle; Richard J. Hamill; Daniel M. Musher

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Original Article

11 (

); 18-23

Adherence to Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Treatment of Candidemia at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Chester N. Ashong, Andrew S. Hunter, M. David Mansouri, Richard M. Cadle, Richard J. Hamill, Daniel M. Musher

Received: 2016-09-14, Accepted: 2016-10-30, Published: 2017-09-07

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This article was originally published by Qassim University and was migrated to Scientific Scholar after the change of Publisher.

Abstract

Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to examine the appropriateness of candidemia management at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center as recommended by the 2009 Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) guidelines for treatment of Candida infections. Methods: A retrospective analysis of 94 adult patients with blood cultures positive for Candida spp. was performed. Patients were stratified by severity of disease into two groups: non-neutropenic, mild-moderate disease (Group 1, n = 54, 56%) and non-neutropenic, moderate-severe disease (Group 2, n = 40, 42%). Results: Adherence to the IDSA recommendations for recommended antifungal drug, dose, and duration of therapy was low in both groups (16.7% in Group 1 and 17.5% in Group 2). Although adherence was not associated with higher clinical resolution of infection (P = 0.111), it was associated with a significantly lower mortality rate (P = 0.001) when compared to variance from the guidelines at 6 weeks. Conclusion: Although adherence to published guidelines for treating patients with candidemia was suboptimal at our institution, patients that were managed based on the guidelines had a statistically lower mortality rate.