Table 1. Summary of Patient-Level and Hospital-Level Characteristics of Patients Receiving Surgery for Fulminant Clostridium difficile Colitis.
| Characteristic | No. (%) | P Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Abdominal Colectomy (n = 2408 [79.7%]) | Loop Ileostomy (n = 613 [20.3%]) | ||
| Patient-Level Variables | |||
| Age, mean (SD), y | 68.2 (14.8) | 60.4 (16.6) | <.01 |
| Sex | |||
| Men | 992 (41.2) | 301 (48.7) | .07 |
| Women | 1416 (58.8) | 312 (51.3) | |
| Race/ethnicity | |||
| White | 1781 (78.4) | 450 (78.3) | .96 |
| Individuals of color | 627 (21.6) | 163 (21.7) | |
| Payer | |||
| Medicare | 1686 (70.3) | 320 (52.3) | <.01 |
| Medicaid | 245 (10.2) | 105 (17.1) | |
| Private insurance | 369 (15.4) | 168 (27.4) | |
| Self-pay | 45 (1.9) | <10 | |
| Others | 54 (2.3) | 15 (2.4) | |
| Elixhauser index | |||
| 0 ~ 2 | 494 (20.5) | 202 (32.9) | .03 |
| 3-5 | 1593 (66.2) | 352 (57.5) | |
| >5 | 321 (13.3) | 59 (9.6) | |
| Median household income | |||
| First quartile (lowest) | 631 (26.5) | 163 (27.3) | .39 |
| Second quartile | 637 (26.8) | 213 (35.7) | |
| Third quartile | 667 (28.0) | 124 (20.7) | |
| Fourth quartile (highest) | 445 (18.7) | 98 (16.4) | |
| Hospital-Level Variables | |||
| Bed size | |||
| Small | 205 (8.5) | 60 (9.8) | .05 |
| Medium | 629 (26.1) | 85 (13.9) | |
| Large | 1574 (65.4) | 467 (76.3) | |
| Location/teaching status | |||
| Rural | 121 (5.0) | 15 (2.4) | <.01 |
| Urban nonteaching | 691 (28.7) | 83 (13.5) | |
| Urban teaching | 1596 (66.3) | 515 (84.0) | |
| Region | |||
| Northeast | 525 (21.8) | 192 (31.4) | .14 |
| Midwest | 567 (23.5) | 158 (25.8) | |
| South | 939 (39.0) | 193 (31.6) | |
| West | 377 (15.7) | 69 (11.3) | |
| Outcome Variables | |||
| Mortality | 749 (31.1) | 159 (26.0) | .28 |
| Length of stay, median (IQR), d | 16 (10-24) | 18 (11-32.5) | NA |
| Postoperative hemorrhage | 39 (1.6) | 10 (1.6) | .99 |
| Wound disruption | 55 (2.3) | 34 (5.6) | .04 |
| Infections complications | 87 (3.6) | 55 (8.9) | .01 |
Abbreviations: IQR, interquartile range; NA, not applicable.