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Antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) is a major hospital problem and a common adverse effect of antibiotic treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of the most important bacteria that cause AAD in hospitalized patients.

PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus databases were searched using multiple relevant keywords and screening carried out based on inclusion/exclusion criteria from March 2001 to October 2021. The random-effects model was used to conduct the meta-analysis.

Of the 7,377 identified articles, 56 met the inclusion criteria. Pooling all studies, the prevalence of Clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile, Clostridium perfringens, Klebsiella oxytoca, and Staphylococcus aureus as AAD-related bacteria among hospitalized patients were 19.6%, 14.9%, 27%, and 5.2%, respectively. The prevalence of all four bacteria was higher in Europe compared to other continents. The highest resistance of C. difficile was estimated to ciprofloxacin and the lowest resistances were reported to chloramphenicol, vancomycin, and metronidazole. There was no or little data on antibiotic resistance of other bacteria.

The results of this study emphasize the need for a surveillance program, as well as timely public and hospital health measures in order to control and treat AAD infections.