Older age , use of antibiotics after diagnosis , use of proton pump inhibitors , and strain type were the most frequent risk factors for recurrence .
Older age , leucocytosis , renal failure and co-morbidities were frequent risk factors for complicated CDI .
When considered alone , mortality was associated with age , co-morbidities , hypo-albuminemia , leucocytosis , acute renal failure , and infection with ribotype 027 .
BACKGROUND Clostridium difficile infection ( CDI ) can lead to complications , recurrence , and death .
Numerous studies have assessed risk factors for these unfavourable outcomes , but systematic review s or meta-analyses published so far were limited in scope or in quality .
Mortality of patients with antibiotic-associated diarrhoea: the impact of Clostridium difficile.
Previous studies have shown conflicting results concerning mortality related to Clostridium difficile infection . The objective of this study was to determine the impact of C. difficile infection on short- and long-term mortality in hospitalised patients with antibiotic-associated diarrhoea . We therefore undertook a prospect i ve case-control study of 217 hospitalised patients who received antibiotics , developed diarrhoea and underwent stool enzyme immunoassay for C. difficile TOX A/B.  The Kaplan-Meier and the log-rank test were used to determine univariate survival analysis and a Cox regression model for multivariate analysis of 28 day and long-term mortality . Fifty-two ( 24 % ) of the 217 patients who met the study criteria were positive for C. difficile TOX A/B. The crude 28 day and long-term mortality rates of the entire cohort were 12.4 % and 56 % , respectively . On Cox regression analysis , hypoalbuminaemia , impaired functional capacity and elevated serum urea levels were found to be the only independent and statistically significant variables associated with long-term mortality . C. difficile toxin positivity per se was not associated with increased short- or long-term mortality rates . In conclusion , hypoalbuminaemia , renal failure , and impaired function capacity predict mortality due to antibiotic-associated diarrhoea , but C. difficile involvement by itself does not further increase the risk of death in these patients
Older age , use of antibiotics after diagnosis , use of proton pump inhibitors , and strain type were the most frequent risk factors for recurrence .
Older age , leucocytosis , renal failure and co-morbidities were frequent risk factors for complicated CDI .
When considered alone , mortality was associated with age , co-morbidities , hypo-albuminemia , leucocytosis , acute renal failure , and infection with ribotype 027 .
BACKGROUND Clostridium difficile infection ( CDI ) can lead to complications , recurrence , and death .
Numerous studies have assessed risk factors for these unfavourable outcomes , but systematic review s or meta-analyses published so far were limited in scope or in quality .