Skip to main content

Table 1 Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of adult inpatients with Clostridium difficile infections (CDI)

From: Risk prediction for 30-day mortality among patients with Clostridium difficile infections: a retrospective cohort study

Variablesa

Total (N = 401)

30-Day Mortality

p-valuea

Died (N = 94)

Did not die (N = 307)

Age at index date, years

 Mean (standard deviation)

68.2

15.8

72.5

13.2

66.9

16.4

0.001b

  ≥ 65 years old

234

58.4%

63

67.0%

171

55.7%

0.051

Male

237

59.1%

59

62.8%

178

58.0%

0.409

Comorbidity within 1 year priorc

 Diabetes mellitus

201

50.1%

50

53.2%

151

49.2%

0.497

 Renal disease

158

39.4%

35

37.2%

123

40.1%

0.623

 Inflammatory bowel disease

6

1.5%

1

1.1%

5

1.6%

0.372b

 Malignancy

154

38.4%

50

53.2%

104

33.9%

0.001

Hospital admission within 90 days prior

182

45.4%

49

52.1%

133

43.3%

0.134

Antibiotic use within 30 days prior

 Cephalosporins

170

42.4%

39

41.5%

131

42.7%

0.839

 Fluoroquinolones

81

20.2%

20

21.3%

61

19.9%

0.766

 Carbapenems

100

24.9%

25

26.6%

75

24.4%

0.671

 Anti-peptic ulcer agentsd

296

73.8%

68

72.3%

228

74.3%

0.710

APACHE II score prior to CDIe

15.0

(10.0, 20.0)

18.0

(11.0, 21.0)

15.0

(10.0, 20.0)

0.036

Fever (≥38 °C) at index CDI

223

59.3%

59

70.2%

164

56.2%

0.021

Anti-diarrhea medicationsf

225

56.1%

51

54.3%

174

56.7%

0.679

Stool routine

 Presence of mucus

52

15.6%

10

14.1%

42

16.0%

0.689

 Positive for red blood cell

121

36.3%

26

36.6%

95

36.3%

0.955

 Positive for WBC

115

34.5%

24

33.8%

91

34.7%

0.884

C. difficile toxin or culture

 Toxin testg

217

54.1%

49

52.1%

168

54.7%

0.659

 Culture only

184

45.9%

45

47.9%

139

45.3%

 

Biochemical profiles at index CDIh

 White blood cell count (WBC), cells/mm3

12,000

(8300, 17,100)

13,700

(8600, 20,900)

11,700

(8100, 16,400)

0.014

 First tertile: < 9440

129

33.0%

27

28.7%

102

34.3%

0.017

 Second tertile: 9440 to < 14,600

126

32.2%

23

24.5%

103

34.7%

 

 Third tertile: ≥14,600

136

34.8%

44

46.8%

92

31.0%

 

 WBC > 15,000

126

32.2%

41

43.6%

85

28.6%

0.007

Serum creatinine (SCr), mg/dL

 Premorbid SCri

1.01

(0.67, 2.05)

0.97

(0.60, 1.56)

1.03

(0.69, 2.30)

0.392

 Index SCr

1.41

(0.81, 3.74)

1.64

(0.90, 3.66)

1.34

(0.76, 3.82)

0.224

 Rise in SCr level

       

  ≥ 1.5-fold

113

34.9%

46

55.4%

67

27.8%

< 0.001

  ≥ 1.5045 mg/dL

56

17.3%

19

22.9%

37

15.4%

0.1172

  ≥ 1.5-fold or ≥ 1.5045 mg/dL

123

38.0%

48

57.8%

75

31.1%

< 0.001

eGFR (CKD-EPI)j, ml/min/1.73m2

51.4

(17.3, 91.0)

47.3

(16.7, 88.3)

52.5

(17.6, 92.5)

0.623

BUN, mg/dL

29.0

(14.0, 60.0)

41.0

(21.0, 85.0)

25.0

(13.0, 52.5)

< 0.001

 First tertile: < 17

110

30.8%

14

16.5%

96

35.3%

0.004

 Second tertile: 17 to < 44

121

33.9%

33

38.8%

88

32.4%

 

 Third tertile: ≥44

126

35.3%

38

44.7%

88

32.4%

 

 BUN > 26

188

52.7%

55

64.7%

133

48.9%

0.011

BUN-to-SCr ratio

18.8

(12.2, 30.1)

26.1

(17.6, 36.8)

16.8

(11.1, 27.3)

< 0.001

 Index BUN-to-SCr > 20

170

47.6%

59

69.4%

111

40.8%

< 0.001

Albumin, g/dL

2.50

(2.20, 2.90)

2.35

(2.00, 2.80)

2.60

(2.20, 3.00)

0.003

 Albumin < 2.5

89

44.3%

33

56.9%

56

39.2%

0.022

 Albumin < 3

155

77.1%

50

86.2%

105

73.4%

0.051

Serum glucose, mg/dL

162

(129, 222)

192

(151, 232)

158

(127, 208)

0.002

 First tertile: < 142

107

32.7%

13

16.9%

94

37.6%

0.001

 Second tertile: 142 to < 193

108

33.0%

26

33.8%

82

32.8%

 

 Third tertile: ≥193

112

34.3%

38

49.4%

74

29.6%

 
  1. Abbreviations: APACHE Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation, BUN blood urea nitrogen level, CDI C. difficile infections, CI confidence interval, eGFR estimated Glomerular filtration rate, HR hazard ratio, IQR interquartile range, SCr serum creatinine, WBC white blood cell count
  2. aContinuous variables were presented as median and IQRs and analyzed using Wilcoxon rank-sum test, if not otherwise indicated. Categorical variables were presented as frequency and proportion (%) and analyzed using chi-square test, if not otherwise indicated. P-values that were < 0.05 are shown in bold.
  3. bMean age and the proportion of inflammatory bowel disease were analyzed using two-sample t-test and Fisher’s exact test, respectively.
  4. cDiabetes mellitus was defined according to the patients’ ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes and the use of glucose-lowering agents. Renal disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and malignancy were defined using the ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes.
  5. dUse of anti-peptic ulcer agents of proton-pump inhibitors and histamine-2 receptor antagonists within 0 to 14 days of the index CDI.
  6. eAPACHE II score was only available for patients admitted to intensive care units (N = 211).
  7. fUse of anti-diarrhea medications or probiotics within 0 to 14 days of the index CDI.
  8. gIncluded 158 patients (39.4%) with positive toxin genes test and 59 patients (14.7%) with positive C. difficile toxin enzyme immunoassay test.
  9. hWe obtained the maximum WBC, maximum index SCr, closest BUN, minimum albumin, and closest glucose values that were measured within −3 to + 3 days of the index CDI.
  10. iFor premorbid SCr, we obtained the minimum SCr that were measured within − 30 to −4 days of the index CDI.
  11. jeGFR was estimated by CKD-EPI equation (Levey 2009).
Back to article page