TABLE 3.

Parameters and risk factors in 3,953 hospitalized patients with diarrhea

Parameter	No. (%) of clinical samples from which C. difficile was isolated		Analysis results
			Bivariate			Multivariate logistic
	Toxigenic C. difficile isolated (n = 397)	No toxigenic C. difficile isolated (n = 3,556)	OR	95% CI	P value	OR	95% CI	P value
Origin, HPFH	244 (61.5)	1889 (53.1)	0.71	0.57–0.88	0.002	1.21	0.90–1.63	0.212
Age > 55 yrs (median, 64 yrs)	333 (83.9)	1248 (35.1)	9.62	7.30–12.68	<0.001	26.80	18.76–38.29	<0.001
Gender, male	205 (51.6)	1854 (52.1)	1.02	0.93-1.26	0.846
Previous hospitalization, yes	300 (75.6)	1613 (45.4)	3.73	2.94–4.73	<0.001	12.42	8.85–17.43	<0.001
Cumulative previous hospital stay exceeding 1 wk, yes	233 (58.7)	711 (20.0)	5.69	4.58–7.06	<0.001
Previous antimicrobial treatment within 8 wks, yes	388 (97.7)	2052 (57.7)	31.60	16.26–61.39	<0.001	150.56	73.11–310.06	<0.001
Previous antibiotic use
Third- or fourth-generation cephalosporins	167 (42.1)	969 (27.3)	1.94	1.57–2.40	<0.001
Fluoroquinolones	104 (26.2)	547 (15.4)	1.95	1.53–2.49	<0.001
Carbapenems	61 (15.4)	312 (8.8)	1.89	1.40–2.54	<0.001
Others	56 (14.1)	224 (6.3)	2.44	1.79–3.34	<0.001
Hospital stay >3 days before sampling, yes	132 (33.3)	663 (18.6)	2.17	1.74–2.73	<0.001	2.34	1.71–3.22	<0.001
Ward type
Oncology	94 (23.7)	311 (8.8)	3.28	2.50–4.19	<0.001
Gastrointestinal disease	190 (47.9)	526 (14.8)	5.29	4.25–6.57	<0.001
Infectious diseases	63 (15.9)	171 (4.8)	3.73	2.74–5.09	<0.001
Othera	50 (12.6)	513 (14.4)	0.86	0.63–1.17	0.322
Chemotherapy, yes	101 (25.4)	432 (12.2)	2.48	1.93–3.16	<0.001	3.31	2.22–4.92	<0.001
Abdominal surgery, yes	208 (52.4)	993 (27.9)	2.84	2.30–3.51	<0.001	4.82	3.54–6.55	<0.001

^aOther ward types included urology, transplantation, respiratory medicine, bone and joint, and neurology.