Table 1.
Baseline characteristics
| All | One recurrence | More than one recurrence | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n (%) or median (IQR) | ||||
| Total | 231 | 110 (48) | 121 (52) | |
| Sex | 0.49 | |||
| Female | 121 (52) | 55 (50) | 66 (55) | |
| Male | 110 (48) | 55 (50) | 55 (45) | |
| Age (years) | 76 (67–84) | 78 (64–86) | 76 (68–82) | 0.5 |
| Body Mass Index | 24 (21–27) | 24 (21–27) | 24 (20–27) | 0.47 |
| Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) 4–9 | 143 (70) | 67 (74) | 76 (68) | 0.37 |
| Charlson comorbidity index | 2 (0–4) | 2 (1–3) | 2 (0–4) | 0.54 |
| Healthy | 35 (15) | 14 (13) | 21 (17) | 0.33 |
| Hypertension | 111 (48) | 47 (43) | 64 (53) | 0.12 |
| Cardiac disease | 63 (27) | 28 (26) | 35 (29) | 0.55 |
| Kidney failure GFR < 30 or dialysis | 19 (8) | 9 (8) | 10 (8) | 0.98 |
| Liver failure | 15 (7) | 7 (6) | 8 (7) | 0.94 |
| Cancer | 40 (17) | 16 (15) | 24 (20) | 0.29 |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 40 (17) | 27 (25) | 13 (11) | 0.01 |
| Diabetes | 45 (20) | 26 (24) | 19 (16) | 0.13 |
| Cholecystectomy | 7 (3) | 3 (3) | 4 (3) | 0.8 |
| Immunosuppression | 42 (18) | 15 (14) | 27 (22) | 0.09 |
| Antibiotics last 90 days | 196 (85) | 93 (85) | 103 (85) | 0.9 |
| Antibiotic treatment duration (days) | 11 (8–20) | 12 (8–24) | 11 (8–17) | 0.48 |
| Hospitalized last 90 days | 145 (63) | 70 (64) | 75 (63) | 0.85 |
| Characteristics of 1st episode of CDI | ||||
| Hospitalized | 153 (66) | 81 (75) | 72 (60) | 0.02 |
| Severe CDI | 82 (35) | 40 (38) | 42 (38) | 0.95 |
| Days between 1st CDI and 1st recurrence | 11 (8–18) | 11 (7–18) | 12 (8–18) | 0.72 |
| Treatments at 1st recurrence of CDI | ||||
| Metronidazole | 68 (29) | 36 (33) | 32 (26) | 0.3 |
| Vancomycin | 130 (56) | 58 (53) | 72 (60) | 0.3 |
| Combination | 33 (14) | 16 (15) | 17 (14) | 0.91 |
| Treatment duration (days) | 11 (10–17) | 11 (10–20) | 10 (10–15) | 0.48 |
| Characteristics of 1st recurrence of CDI | ||||
| C-reactive protein (mg/L) | 55 (22–111) | 62 (26–114) | 54 (19–109) | 0.43 |
| White Blood Cell count (x10 9 /L) | 12 (8–18) | 12 (7–18) | 13 (9–18) | 0.44 |
| Creatinine (µmol/L) | 80 (61–114) | 73 (58–116) | 81 (64–108) | 0.57 |
| Hospitalized | 109 (52) | 48 (50) | 61 (53) | 0.61 |
| Severe CDI | 45 (25) | 18 (23) | 27 (26) | 0.59 |
Missing data at baseline or first episode: Body Mass Index (n = 9), CFS (n = 28), antibiotics last 90 days (n = 1), hospitalized last 90 days (n = 2), antibiotic days (n = 48), C-reactive protein (n = 44), White Blood Cell count (n = 47), creatinine (n = 48), hospitalized for index CDI (n = 3), severity (n = 15)
Missing data for 1 st recurrence: C-reactive protein (n = 115), White Blood Cell count (n = 116), creatinine (n = 119), hospitalized for 1 st recurrence (n = 21), severity (n = 47)
Percentages for variables with missing values are valid percentage, excluding the missing values
IQR Interquartile Range, CDIClostridioides difficile infection, GFR Glomerular Filtration Rate (mL/min/1.73 m²)