SDC 1
Appendix 1. Data reported in the CRF according to each field
Fields and contents of the online questionnaire
Personal and family data
General characteristics that included the personal data of the patients (gender, birth date) and family information (father and mother’s job, country of origin of parents) had to be acquired by the pediatrician.
Home management
Pediatricians were asked to provide information on the children’s history, especially regarding diet (free, breast milk, milk-formula, mixed feeding) and the presence of any chronic diseases or concomitant acute illnesses. The pediatricians were also asked if oral rehydration therapy for the patients had already been attempted by the parents, and if any anti-diarrheal drugs or antibiotics were taken by the child.
Reasons for admission
Every single registered case had to be justified by the pediatrician regarding the main reasons for admission. The physicians could choose more than one of the following options: severe clinical conditions (to be specified in the following field), inability of the parents to manage the child according to physician’s opinion and explicit request by the family.
Clinical features
The clinical conditions of the children were reported at admission. Pediatricians had to specify child weight and the number of diarrheal (1-3, 3-5, 5-7, >7) and vomiting (1-3, 3-5, >5) episodes per day, characteristics of the stools (semi- liquid, watery, soft, bloody), and the presence of abdominal pain. The grade of dehydration was assessed based on the physicians’ opinion on the state of consciousness (e.g., normal, irritable, lethargic), thirst (normal or increased), diuresis (normal or decreased), degree of dehydration in relation to body weight (<5%, 5-9%, >10%), capillary refill time (<2 seconds, 2-3 seconds, >3 seconds), respiratory rate according to age (normal or increased) and skin turgor (immediate retraction, 1-2 seconds, >2 seconds).
An additional open field was added to allow report of special condition or physician evaluation.
Hospital management
Pediatricians were asked to report whether children underwent lab (CBC, CRP, electrolytes, acid-basic equilibrium) and/or microbiological tests (stool cultures and fecal antigens research); if performed, the physicians reported the value for some of the tests (Hb, WBC, CRP, Na+ and HCO3-). The type of rehydration and pharmacological treatment were also recorded. In particular, the rehydration regime (exclusive oral rehydration, IV rehydration <24 h or >24 h), drug prescriptions (antibiotics, acetorphan/racecadotril, smectite, probiotics, antiemetics) were recorded. Withdrawal of food and any changes in the diet or breast-feeding routine were also indicated. Finally, weight at discharge was reported to calculate variations and to better assess the effect of rehydration therapy and weight gain.
