Table 1 Demographics and clinical features of spontaneous bacterial meningitis episodes in diabetic patients

Male sex

53 (50)

298 (48.9)

0.916

Age – years, median (IQR)

Recurrent meningitis

67 (17)

6 (5.7)

49 (40)

26 (4.3)

< 0.001

0.455

Comorbid conditions^a

106 (100)

284 (46.6)

< 0.001

• Hypertension

19 (17.9)

61 (10)

0.028

• Cancer

17 (16)

89 (14.8)

0.541

• Chronic lung disease^b

13 (8.2)

39 (6.4)

0.098

• Alcoholism

11 (7.2)

55 (9)

0.210

Charlson comorbidity index ≥3

42 (39.6)

90 (14.8)

< 0.001

Distant focus of infection

41 (38.7)

200 (32.8)

0.266

• Hospital-acquired (vs. community-acquired)

4 (3.8)

28 (4.6)

1.000

• Fever

100 (94.3)

579 (95.1)

0.849

• Altered mental status

83 (78.3)

383 (62.9)

0.009

• Neck stiffness

59 (55.7)

458 (75.2)

< 0.001

• Triad of fever, neck stiffness, and change in mental status

44 (41.5)

282 (46.3)

0.577

• Headache

44 (41.5)

473 (77.7)

< 0.001

• Nausea and/or vomiting

34 (32.1)

340 (55.8)

< 0.001

• Focal neurological deficits

25 (23.6)

100 (16.4)

0.095

• Coma

21 (19.8)

94 (15.4)

0.254

• Seizures

10 (9.4)

49 (8)

0.819

• Rash

13 (12.3)

160 (26.3)

0.007

• Systolic blood pressure – mm Hg (SD)

140 (32)

128 (30)

< 0.001

• Diastolic blood pressure – mm Hg (SD)

80 (19)

75 (20)

0.004

Interval symptoms-admission, hours (IQR)

25 (51.7)

24 (28)

0.184

Interval admission-therapy, hours (IQR)

Prior antimicrobial therapy

Cerebral computed tomography

4 (9)

28 (26.4)

45 (42.5)

3 (8)

185 (30.4)

192 (31.5)

0.821

0.647

0.039

White blood cell count, median (IQR)

15,025 (8525)

15,300 (10650)

0.704

Platelet count/mm3, median (IQR)

206,000 (252275)

189,500 (120750)

0.715