Predictors of positive stool culture in adult patients with acute infectious diarrhea.

Stool cultures for bacterial pathogens are often requested for investigation of patients with infectious diarrhea, but the literature reports low yield for this diagnostic test. The identification of clinical predictors of positive stool culture will help the physician in determining the necessity for stool requests. A retrospective study was performed in the setting of an Emergency Department (ED) in Hong Kong, to compare presenting features of adult patients with positive stool culture against those with negative culture. We compared 130 consecutive cases with positive stool culture, over a 12-month period, against 119 control cases obtained from a random sampling of 524 consecutive negative cases over the same period. In multivariate analysis, the independent variables found to be associated with positive stool culture were: the month of presentation (summer season), fever, duration of abdominal pain, and requirement of IV fluid therapy. Neither bloody diarrhea nor persistent diarrhea was associated with positive stool culture.