Figure 4.

The nonlinear association between platelet counts and 28d all-cause mortality by restricted cubic spline models in specific pathogens.

(A) Candida species. (B) Enterococcus species. (C) Staphylococcus species. (D) Enterobacter species. (E) Escherichia species. (F) Klebsiella species. The models were adjusted by age, gender, medical conditions, Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) II score, septic shock, mechanical ventilation use and lactate. All p values were corrected for multiple testing by using the likelihood ratio method. HR, hazard ratio; CI, confidence intervals.

The L-shaped relationship indicated a decrease in the hazard ratio for mortality with increasing platelet count, characterized by steeper slopes at lower counts and tending to stabilize at higher counts. Conversely, the U-shaped relationship indicates a decrease in the hazard ratio for mortality with increasing platelet count, followed by an increase as the count further increases.