TABLE 1.

A summary of variables with their corresponding P values

Variable class and name	Categoryb	Nc	% toxin positive	Relative risk	P valued
History
Prior CDIa	Previous CDI	51	63	1.5	.015
	No previous CDI	109	42
IBD	Diagnosis of IBD	20	35	0.7	.207
	No diagnosis of IBD	132	50
Immunocompromised	Immunocompromised	44	50	1.0	.760
	Not immunocompromised	110	47
Symptoms
Fever	Temp ≥38°C	51	59	1.4	.077
	Temp <38°C	90	43
Duration of diarrhea	≥2 Days	139	50	1.6	.142
	<2 Days	16	31
Stool frequency	≥3 Loose stools per day	135	50	1.5	.142
	<3 Loose stools per day	21	33
Treatment
Laxative	Laxative use within 24 h of stool collection	23	43	0.9	.632
	No laxative within 24 h of stool collection	133	49
Recent antibiotic	Antibiotic use in the prior 2 weeks	104	52	1.1	.472
	No antibiotic use in the prior 2 weeks	44	45
Recent cephalosporin	Cephalosporin use in the prior 2 weeks	35	57	1.3	.215
	No cephalosporin use in the prior 2 weeks	85	45
Recent quinolone	Quinolone use in the prior 2 weeks	15	60	1.3	.333
	No quinolone use in the prior 2 weeks	105	47
Enteral nutrition	Tube feeding within 24 h of stool collection	8	38	0.8	.537
	No tube feeding within 24 h of stool collection	146	49

^aPrior C. difficile infection was defined as having a positive PCR result at any point in the past, with the majority of patients with recurrent CDI having a prior CDI within the last year.

^bIBD, Inflammatory bowel disease.

^cN, number of patients.

^dValues in boldface are significant.