Table 3. Relationship between steroids, age, duration of clinical follow-up, and laboratory parameters measured on days 0 and 10.
| Characteristics | Standard dose MP | Mini-pulse MP | Pulse MP | DXA | P value | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | 67 (58–76)a,b | 69 (60–78)a | 69 (59–79)a,b | 65 (55–76)b | 0.011 | |||||
| Antibiotic duration, day | 14 (10–20)a | 12 (9–16)b | 10 (7–15)b | 12 (8–16)b | < 0.001 | |||||
| Sedation duration, day | 12 (8–19)c | 11 (7–16)a,c | 6 (3–10)b | 10 (7–15)a | < 0.001 | |||||
| MV duration, day | 12 (8–20)c | 11 (7–16)a | 6 (3–10)b | 11 (7–15)a | < 0.001 | |||||
| ICU length of stary, day | 15 (10–22)c | 13 (9–19)a | 7 (5–12)b | 12 (10–17)a | < 0.001 | |||||
| Laboratory parameters | Day 0 | Day 10 | Day 0 | Day 10 | Day 0 | Day 10 | Day 0 | Day 10 | ||
| P/F ratio | 120 (95–167) | 150 (110–211) | 120 (84–159) | 127 (85–180) | 100 (80–140) | 104 (68–150) | 110 (90–169) | 148 (100–210) | 0.004 | |
| SOFA score | 4 (3–8) | 6 (4–9) | 4 (4–8) | 8 (4–11) | 5 (4–8) | 9 (8–11) | 4 (3–7) | 6 (4–10) | 0.013 | |
| D-dimer, µg/L | 1,295 (765–2,400) | 1,600 (870–3,570) | 1,130 (660–2,225) | 2,140 (1,100–4,500) | 1,775 (770–4,540) | 4,226 (1,760–7,785) | 970 (550–2,493) | 1,620 (842–3,485) | 0.024 | |
| Ferritin, µg/L | 581 (311–1,084) | 600 (299–1,181) | 680 (365–1,177) | 804 (422–1,537) | 596 (256–1,338) | 1,000 (431–2,000) | 610 (277–1,150) | 613 (311–1,297) | 0.012 | |
| Lymphocyte, µg/L | 700 (425–1,000) | 700 (400–1,185) | 660 (450–1,065) | 700 (420–1,150) | 750 (500–1,270) | 470 (270–843) | 635 (430–970) | 720 (438–1,240) | 0.001 | |
| CRP, mg/L | 109 (56–169) | 72 (19–149) | 113 (66–187) | 95 (29–172) | 111 (71–180) | 91 (38–147) | 121 (67–181) | 84 (31–156) | 0.610 | |
| Fibrinogen, mg/L | 546 (435–690) | 450 (322–601) | 627 (511–743) | 598 (460–736) | 587 (526–686) | 491 (327–702) | 544 (450–655) | 507 (377–621) | 0.344 | |
Values are presented as median (Q1–Q3).
MP = methylprednisolone, DXA = dexamethasone, MV = mechanical ventilation, ICU = intensive care unit, P/F = PaO2/FiO2, SOFA = Sofa Sequential Organ Failure Assessment, CRP = C-reactive protein.
a-cLetters a-c were used to indicate groups with statistically significant differences. There was no statistical difference between groups with the same letters.