Analysis of risk factors and clinical manifestations associated with Clostridium difficile disease in Serbian hospitalized patients

Clostridium difficile is the leading cause of infectious diarrhoea in hospitalized patients. The aim of this study was to determine the risk factors important for the development of hospital-acquired Clostridium difficile-associated disease and clinical manifestations of Clostridium difficile-associated disease. The clinical trial group included 37 hospitalized patients who were selected according to the inclusion criteria. A control group of 74 hospitalized patients was individually matched with cases based on hospital, age (within 4 years), sex and month of admission. Clostridium difficile-associated disease most commonly manifested as diarrhoea (56.76%) and colitis (32%), while in 8.11% of patients, it was diagnosed as pseudomembranous colitis, and in one patient, it was diagnosed as fulminant colitis. Statistically significant associations (p