Antimicrobial stewardship and infection prevention interventions targeting healthcare-associated Clostridioides difficile and carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae infections: a scoping review

OBJECTIVES: This study assessed antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) and infection prevention (IP) interventions targeting healthcare-associated Clostridioides difficile and carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) infections, their key outcomes and the application of behaviour change principles in these interventions. DESIGN: This scoping review was conducted in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines while focusing on acute healthcare settings in both low-to-middle income and high-income countries. DATA SOURCES: The databases searched were MEDLINE, PubMed, Web of Science and CINAHL between 22 April 2020 and 30 September 2020. ELIGIBILITY: The review included peer-reviewed articles published in English language between 2010 and 2019. Studies that focussed on IP and/or AMS interventions primarily targeting C. difficile or CRKP were included. Studies that assessed effectiveness of diagnostic devices or treatment options were excluded from this review. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: An abstraction sheet calibrated for this study was used to extract data on the main study characteristics including the population, intervention and outcomes of interest (antimicrobial use, compliance with IP interventions and risk for C. difficile and CRKP). A narrative synthesis of the results is provided. RESULTS: The review included 34 studies. Analysis indicates that interventions targeting C. difficile and CRKP include Education, Surveillance/Screening, Consultations, Audits, Policies and Protocols, Environmental measures, Bundles, Isolation as well as Notifications or alerts (represented using the ESCAPE-BIN acronym). The identified outcomes include antimicrobial use, resistance rates, risk reduction, adherence to contact precautions, hospital stay and time savings. AMS and IP interventions tend to be more adhoc with limited application of behaviour change principles. CONCLUSION: This scoping review identified the AMS and IP interventions targeting C. difficile and CRKP in healthcare settings and described their key outcomes. The application of behaviour change principles in AMS and IP interventions appears to be limited.