Figure 1.
Flowchart of included and excluded publications.
Figure 2.
Forest plots of associations of age, antibiotic use and PPIs with recurrence of CDI.
*Effect of age in deciles in interaction with previous dialysis/chemotherapy. *Non-CDI antimicrobial within 30-days of completing treatment for CDI.
Table 1.
Association between unfavourable outcomes and strain type in multivariate analyses.
Figure 3.
Other risk factors for recurrence of CDI.
* History of recurrence vs. new CDI. ** Modified Horn’s index (3 pts). ∞ Lymphopenia at completion of CDI treatment: Absolute cell count <1.0×109/L. ¥<2.22 ELISA units, adjusted on disease severity. † Elective admission vs. emergency if previous dialysis/chemotherapy (interaction). ◊ History of surgery within 1 month before CDI treatment. MRSA = previous methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (interaction). VRE = vancomycin-resistant enterococci.
Figure 4.
Forest plots of reported associations with complicated CDI: age and co-morbidities or health status.
Figure 5.
Forest plots of reported associations with complicated CDI: white blood cells count (WBC) and creatinine levels.
WBC units were converted to the international system unit (109/L). Creatinine levels were converted to the conventional unit using the formula: Creatinine [mg/dL] = creatinine/88.4 [µmol/L].
Table 2.
Infrequent risk factors for complicated CDI and 30-day mortality.
Figure 6.
Forest plots of reported associations with treatment failure. *PMC = pseudomembranous colitis.
Figure 7.
Forest plots of associations of age and co-morbidities with mortality. (¥≤30-day mortality; § >30-day).
Figure 8.
Forest plots of associations of blood tests with mortality.
(¥≤30-day mortality; § >30-day). *Increase in serum urea associated with 28-days and long-term mortality. †Original value: Sodium per 3 mmol/L higher <136; HR = 0.88 (0.83–0.93). **Leucocytosis: WBC≥35×109/L or leucopenia: WBC<4×109/L. ‡Original value: Albumin per 5 g/dL higher; HR = 0.74 (0.71–0.78).
Figure 9.
Quality evaluation of included studies (n = 68) according to reported clinical data.