Participants aged ≥18 years Data were obtained from United Kingdom GPRD
Presence of a first positive C. difficile toxin assay and/or a clinical diagnosis recorded by general practitioner; not hospitalized in the year prior to the index date
Age matched controls were not hospitalized in the year prior to the index date
Participants aged ≥18 years admitted to units with a historically high or low incidence of C. difficile infection
Presence of diarrhea and a positive C. difficile cytotoxin assay or toxigenic culture, presence of diarrhea and an endoscopic diagnosis of pseudomembranes, or a pathological diagnosis of C. difficile infection
Asymptomatic C. difficile colonization Neither infection nor colonization
CDAD, 117 C. difficile colonization, 307 Neither colonization nor infection, 3719
Subjects enrolled in a large cohort study supported by FRSQ Clostridium difficile Consortium
() Presence of diarrhea and laboratory confirmation of C. difficile with positive toxin assay results (described below), () acute diarrhea without an alternate explanation and diagnosis of pseudomembranes, or () histologic or pathologic diagnosis of pseudomembranous colitis
Matched controls in a 1 : 2 ratio according to sex, age (±5 years), and date of hospitalization (±30 days)
Diarrhea (increased stool output and unformed stool) without another etiology and a positive C. difficile toxin assay Onset in the community or within 72 hours of admission to a health care center
Adult patients hospitalized at least once in the internal medicine, family medicine, or gastroenterology wards
() Diarrhea developed during the episode of care or within 60 days after last discharge and () either a stool specimen was found to have C. difficile toxin by the cytotoxicity assay or colonoscopy revealed changes typical of pseudomembranous colitis and/or histopathology supported that diagnosis
All patients hospitalized for IBD flares in the Gastroenterology Department of the Saint-Antoine IBD Center
Positive stool toxigenic culture and a positive stool cytotoxicity assay or, in cases of negative stool cytotoxicity assays, a positive toxigenic culture