ICU sedation, delirium & recovery
Classifying diarrhea in critically ill patients through various criteria: a cohort study
Authors' conclusion
Diarrhea prevalence varied from 9-39% across definitions. WHO and ESICM, both frequency-based, differed from BSCS and weight-based criteria.
Study context
- Population
- Consecutive adults admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for at least three days, January 2017–December 2018
- Participants
- 700 adults
- Exposure
- Six diarrhoea criteria (frequency-, quantity- and consistency-based) compared for prevalence, agreement and association with mortality
- Outcome
- Prevalence of diarrhea according to each definition
Methodological detailssingle-centre
- Single-centre
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Prevalence of diarrhea
- Prevalence range across criteria
- 9 to 39%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
In-hospital mortality (diarrhea vs no diarrhea, multivariable Cox)
| aHR (95% CI) | ||
|---|---|---|
| > 400 g/day | 1.93 (1.29–2.90) | |
| > 200 g/day | 1.78 (1.19–2.64) | |
| BSCS | 1.73 (1.15–2.60) | |
| 0.20.5125Adjusted hazard ratio (log scale) |
| Outcome | Kappa |
|---|---|
| Agreement between criteriaWHO vs ESICM · high agreement | 0.87 |
| Agreement between criteriaWHO vs BSCS · weak agreement | 0.52 |
| Agreement between criteriaESICM vs BSCS · weak agreement | 0.43 |
In-hospital mortality (diarrhea vs no diarrhea, multivariable Cox)
- Univariable: diarrhea associated with in-hospital mortality regardless of criteria; multivariable: association maintained only for > 400 g/day, > 200 g/day and Bristol Stool Chart Scale (BSCS) criteria
Original publication
Classifying diarrhea in critically ill patients through various criteria: a cohort study. J Intensive Care. Published 30 September 2025. doi:10.
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