Prediction of Total Daily Fecal Excretion During Acute Childhood Diarrhea

Abstract

Clinical data from 133 male patients between 3 and 36 months of age were reviewed to identify factors that could predict high rates of fecal excretion during acute diarrhea. Diarrheal severity after hospitalization was measured by spearate 4-h quantitative collections of feces during 6 days; the number of these 4-h collection periods with any stool output was used as an estimate of the number of bowel movements each day. The number of 4-h periods with any stool output was highly correlated with total fecal excretion expressed as grams per kilogram of body weight per day (p < 0.001). The age of the patient, type of diarrhea, and type of diet had little effect on the relationship between stool "number" and amount. The number of bowel movements, as estimated during this study, was a highly sensitive (>90%) and reasonably specific (>70%) predictor of children at risk of high fecal excretion rates (>50 g/kg/day or >100 g/kg/day) during acute diarrhea.