Usefulness of the Bristol Stool Form Chart scoring system for the laboratory processing of faecal samples in suspected Clostridioides difficile cases.

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) remains a threat to hospitalized patients. All patients with diarrhoea [defined as Bristol Stool Form Chart (BSFC) types 5-7] not attributable to another cause should be tested for CDI. Samples should quarter fill and take the shape of the specimen container. Use of the BSFC definition of diarrhoea to determine which samples should be tested for CDI in the laboratory was assessed. In this study, two-thirds of glutamate-dehydrogenase-positive, toxin-positive samples were rated BSFC type <5. Therefore, the BSFC should not be used by laboratories to determine which samples are tested for CDI.