Table 1.
Demographic and clinical details of the patient groups divided according to leukocyte count > 15 × 103 cells/μl or deterioration in creatinine of more than 1.5 × baseline or serum albumin < 3g/dl and a combination of these factors.
| Characteristic | Severity of Clostridium
difficile (CD) infection defined by
clinical marker in patients with CD fecal toxin
levels |
|||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leukocytes |
Deterioration in creatinine |
Albumin |
Combined |
|||||||||
| Mild/ Moderate | Severe | p value | Mild/ Moderate | Severe | p value | Mild/ Moderate | Severe | p value | Mild/ Moderate | Severe | p value | |
| Total patients in group | 40 | 33 | 62 | 9 | 33 | 34 | 26 | 47 | ||||
| Female, no. (%) | 28 (70) | 16 (48) | 0.09 | 38 (61) | 4 (44) | 0.27 | 20 (66) | 21 (62) | 0.56 | 18 (69) | 26 | 0.32 |
| Age (years), mean ± SD | 68 ± 18 | 69 ± 16 | 0.8 | 68 ± 18 | 69 ± 19 | 0.89 | 67 ± 19 | 74 ± 13 | 0.11 | 67 ± 21 | 70 ± 15 | 0.57 |
| Charlson comorbidity index score, median (IQR) | 5 (4–7) | 6 (3–7.5) | 0.8 | 6 (3–7) | 5 (3.5–9.5) | 0.7 | 7 (5–8) | 4 (0–7) | 0.001 | 6 (4–7) | 5 (3–7.2) | 0.3 |
| PUD, no. (%) | 0 (0) | 1 (3) | 0.45 | 0 (0) | 1 (11) | 0.87 | 0 (0) | 1 (3) | 0.5 | 0 (0) | 1 (2) | 1 |
| Diabetes, no. (%) | 13 (33) | 7 (21) | 0.34 | 18 (29) | 2 (22) | 0.51 | 7 (21) | 10 (29) | 0.46 | 7 (27) | 13 (28) | 0.4 |
| CVS dx, no. (%) | 18 (45) | 11 (33) | 0.22 | 23 (37) | 5 (56) | 0.24 | 12 (36) | 15 (44) | 0.35 | 9 (35) | 20 (43) | 0.6 |
| Anemia, no. (%) | 7 (17.5) | 7 (21) | 0.46 | 13 (21) | 1 (11) | 0.43 | 5 (15) | 8 (24) | 0.29 | 3 (12) | 11 (23) | 0.35 |
| Malignancy, no. (%) | 9 (22.5) | 10 (30) | 0.312 | 17 (27) | 2 (22) | 0.55 | 5 (15) | 13 (38) | 0.03 | 4 (15) | 15 (32) | 0.17 |
| IBD, no. (%) | 3 (7.5) | 3 (9) | 0.57 | 5 (8) | 1 (11) | 0.57 | 4 (12) | 2 (6) | 0.32 | 3 (12) | 3 (6) | 0.66 |
| Renal failure, no. (%) | 8 (20) | 8 (24) | 0.44 | 13 (21) | 3 (33) | 0.34 | 6 (18) | 10 (29) | 0.21 | 5 (19) | 11 (23) | 0.77 |
| Dialysis, no. (%) | 3 (8) | 2 (6) | 0.59 | 3 (5) | 2 (22) | 0.12 | 2 (6) | 3 (9) | 0.51 | 1 (4) | 4 (9) | 0.65 |
| Neutropenia, no. (%) | 1 (3) | 1 (3) | 0.7 | 1 (2) | 1 (11) | 0.24 | 0 (0) | 2 (6) | 0.25 | 1 (4) | 1 (2) | 1 |
| Antibiotic usage, no. (%) | 30 (75) | 26 (79) | 0.65 | 47 (76) | 7 (77) | 0.09 | 23 (70) | 28 (82) | 0.2 | 17 (65) | 39 (83) | 0.12 |
| Steroid usage, no. (%) | 9 (23) | 6 (18) | 0.44 | 15 (24) | 0 (0) | 0.1 | 5 (15) | 10 (29) | 0.13 | 5 (19) | 10 (21) | 1 |
| PPI usage, no. (%) | 25 (63) | 22 (67) | 0.45 | 40 (65) | 5 (55) | 0.43 | 20 (66) | 25 (74) | 0.19 | 15 (58) | 32 (68) | 0.45 |
| Chemotherapy, no. (%) | 2 (5) | 6 (18) | 0.08 | 8 (13) | 0 (0) | 0.32 | 4 (12) | 4 (12) | 0.62 | 2 (8) | 6 (13) | 0.7 |
| Death within 30 days, no. (%) | 3 (7.5) | 10 (30) | 0.02 | 11 (18) | 2 (22) | 0.66 | 6 (18) | 6 (18) | 0.52 | 2 (8) | 11 (23) | 0.11 |
| Fecal toxin level (ng/ml), median (IQR) | 167 (55.6–475) | 2174.3 (157.2–4209) | <0.001 | 267.8 (73–855) | 970.8 (120–3839) | 0.21 | 291.7 (78–880) | 248.4 (120–2197.6) | 0.8 | 164 (55.2–400.1) | 651 (138–3200) | 0.001 |
SD: standard deviation; PUD: peptic ulcer disease; CVS: cardiovascular; dx: diagnosis; IBD: inflammatory bowel disease; PPI: peptic ulcer disease; IQR: interquartile range.