Table 1.
Main characteristics of patients with early and late diarrhea and patients without diarrhea.
| Early diarrhea (n = 89) | Late diarrhea (n = 161) | No diarrhea (n = 731) | P, early vs late | P, early vs no | P, late vs no | |
| Age, y | 56 (47 to 67) | 61 (53 to 69) | 54 (44 to 64) | .049 | .136 | <.001 |
| Male/female | 36/53 | 64/97 | 363/368 | .914 | .101 | .023 |
| Body temperature upon admission, 0C | 37.7 (37.1 to 38.0) | 37.7 (37.1 to 38.2) | 37.5 (37.0 to 38.0) | .740 | .044 | .003 |
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 29.0 (25.1 to 30.0) | 30.0 (27.0 to 32.8) | 28.4 (25.8 to 32.3) | .464 | .713 | .084 |
| Duration of disease before admission, days | 6 (5 to 9) | 7 (5 to 11) | 7 (5 to 10) | .005 | .061 | .061 |
| Length of hospital stay, days | 15 (13 to 18) | 17 (14 to 22) | 15 (13 to 18) | <.001 | .241 | <.001 |
| Total duration of disease, days | 22 (19 to 25) | 27 (22 to 32) | 23 (20 to 28) | <.001 | .036 | <.001 |
| The day of onset of diarrhea from onset of disease | 6 (3 to 7) | 15 (12 to 20) | — | <.001 | — | — |
| The day of onset of diarrhea from day of hospitalization | −2 (−3 to 2) | 6 (4 to 11) | — | <.001 | — | — |
| The day of onset of diarrhea from day of initiation of antibiotics use | 2 (0 to 3) | 11 (8 to 17) | — | <.001 | — | — |
| The day of starting antibiotics from the onset of disease | 4 (2 to 5) | 3 (1 to 6) | 4 (2 to 7) | .204 | .143 | <.001 |
| Duration of taking antibiotics before hospitalization, days | 2 (0 to 4) | 4 (0 to 7) | 2 (0 to 5) | <.001 | .307 | <.001 |
| Taking antibiotics before hospitalization | 61 (68.5%) | 113 (70.2%) | 397 (54.3%) | .786 | .011 | .002 |
| Hospitalizations in the previous 3 mo | 6 (6.7%) | 16 (9.9%) | 36 (4.9%) | .393 | .463 | .014 |
| Duration of diarrhea, days | 5 (3 to 7) | 6 (4 to 10) | — | <.001 | — | — |
| <6 | 55 (61.8%) | 70 (43.5%) | — | .006 | — | — |
| 6–10 | 25 (28.1%) | 52 (32.3%) | — | .490 | — | — |
| 11–15 | 9 (10.1%) | 23 (14.3%) | — | .344 | — | — |
| >15 | 0 (0.0%) | 16 (9.9%) | — | .006 | — | — |
| The no. of bowel movements per day | 4 (2 to 4) | 4 (3 to 7) | — | <.001 | — | — |
| 1–3 | 26 (29.2%) | 54 (33.5%) | — | .483 | — | — |
| 4–5 | 56 (62.9%) | 51 (31.6%) | — | <.001 | — | — |
| 6–10 | 6 (6.7%) | 45 (28.0%) | — | .001 | — | — |
| 11–15 | 1 (1.1%) | 3 (1.9%) | — | .936 | — | — |
| >15 | 0 (0.0%) | 8 (5.0%) | — | .033 | — | — |
| Positive test for Clostridium difficile toxins in stool | 0/10 (0.0%) | 55/78 (70.5%) | — | .001 | — | — |
| Death | 2 (2.2%) | 9 (5.6%) | 28 (3.8%) | .078 | .156 | .194 |
| Death within the first 20 days of disease | 1 (1.1%) | 1 (0.6%) | 21 (2.9%) | — | .089 | .015 |
| Death after 20 days of disease | 1 (1.1%) | 8 (5.0%) | 7 (1.0%) | .029 | .553 | .001 |
| Admission to ICU | 2 (2.2%) | 21 (13.0%) | 44 (6.0%) | .009 | .144 | .002 |
| Day of admission to ICU from the onset of the disease | 10.5 (7 to 14) | 12 (9 to 18) | 9 (7 to 12) | .807 | .620 | .027 |
| Day of admission to ICU from the first hospitalization day | 5 (1 to 9) | 4 (0 to 7) | 2 (0 to 5) | .703 | .720 | .395 |
| Staying in ICU, days | 14.5 (7 to 22) | 6 (3 to 8) | 5 (4 to 12) | .413 | .169 | .737 |
| The need for mechanical ventilation | 2 (2.2%) | 9 (5.6%) | 24 (3.3%) | .362 | .837 | .241 |
| Colitis | 0 (0.0%) | 29 (18.1%) | — | <.001 | — | — |