Table 1. Demographic and baseline characteristics for diarrhoea and non-diarrhoea groups.
| Admissions with Diarrhoeaa (N = 1207) | Admissions with No Diarrhoeaa (N = 8124) | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age [mean (standard deviation)] | 60.8 (16.5) | 58.3 (17.8) | <0.001 |
| Male sex | 678 (56.2%) | 4457 (54.9%) | 0.40 |
| Referring Specialty | |||
| Medical | 726 (60.1%) | 2358 (29.0%) | <0.001 |
| Surgical | 481 (39.9%) | 5766 (71.0%) | |
| APACHE II scoreb [median (interquartile range)] | 22 (17–28) | 16 (11–21) | <0.001 |
| Reason for Intensive Care Unit admission | |||
| Cardiovascular | 109 (9.0%) | 487 (6.0%) | <0.001 |
| Respiratory failure | 351 (29.1%) | 878 (10.8%) | <0.001 |
| Haemorrhage | 81 (6.7%) | 556 (6.8%) | 0.85 |
| Sepsis | 200 (16.6%) | 455 (5.6%) | <0.001 |
| Renal failure | 67 (5.6%) | 138 (1.7%) | <0.001 |
| Operative intervention | 228 (18.9%) | 4735 (58.3%) | <0.001 |
| Neurological | 91 (7.5%) | 534 (6.6%) | 0.20 |
| Haematological | 40 (3.3%) | 99 (1.2%) | <0.001 |
| Liver failure | 17 (1.4%) | 60 (0.7%) | 0.03 |
| Other | 23 (1.9%) | 182 (2.2%) | 0.53 |
aData shown as N (%) unless stated otherwise.
bAcute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score.