Table 4.
Clinical and therapeutic characteristics of the population receiving new antibiotic treatment according to outcome
| Parameter | Alive | Death during ICU stay | P |
|---|---|---|---|
| (n = 408) | (n = 101) | ||
| Age | 55 ± 19 | 66 ± 15 | 0.001 |
| Underlying diseases | |||
| Not ultimately fatal | 279 (68.4%) | 50 (49.5%) | <0.0001 |
| Ultimately fatal | 95 (23.3%) | 28 (27.7%) | |
| Rapidly fatal | 34 (8.3%) | 23 (22.8%) | |
| Immunosuppression | 43 (10.3%) | 18 (17.8%) | 0.04 |
| SAPS II score on admission | 37 ± 15 | 56 ± 20 | <0.0001 |
| SOFA score at the beginning of AT | 6 ± 5 | 12 ± 6 | 0.04 |
| Severe hypoxemia | 72 (17.6%) | 29 (28.7%) | 0.01 |
| Septic shock | 79 (19.4%) | 43 (42.6%) | <0.0001 |
| Multiple organ failure | 18 (4.4%) | 29 (28.7%) | <0.0001 |
| AT protocol available | 269 (65.9%) | 58 (57.4%) | 0.11 |
| Number of AT protocols available | 4.2 ± 3.5 | 3.8 ± 3.8 | 0.24 |
| Category of MD prescriber | |||
| Fellow | 46 (11.2%) | 10 (10%) | 0.57 |
| Senior physician | 292 (71.6%) | 74 (73.1%) | |
| Medical team decision | 70 (17.2%) | 17 (16.9%) | |
| Time of prescription of new AT | |||
| Day shifts | 185 (45.3%) | 42 (41.6%) | 0.49 |
| Out-of-hours | 223 (54.7%) | 59 (58.4%) | |
| Suspicion of infection | 298 (73.0%) | 65 (64.4%) | 0.27 |
| Gram-stained direct examination available | 77 (18.9%) | 28 (27.7%) | |
| Microbiologic identification available | 20 (4.9%) | 5 (5.0%) | |
| Susceptibility testing available | 13 (3.2%) | 3 (2.9%) | |
| Appropriateness of new AT | |||
| Appropriate | 160 (39.2%) | 43 (42.6%) | 0.45 |
| Inappropriate | 50 (12.3%) | 8 (7.9%) | |
| Not applicable | 198 (48.5%) | 50 (49.5%) | |
| Change of empiric AB | |||
| None | 286 (70.1%) | 69 (68.3%) | 0.65 |
| Gram-stained direct examination available | 14 (3.4%) | 5 (5.0%) | |
| Microbiologic identification available | 40 (9.8%) | 13 (12.9%) | |
| Susceptibility testing available | 68 (16.7%) | 14 (13.8%) | |
| Number of AB changes | 0.4 ± 0.6 | 0.4 ± 0.6 | 0.67 |
Data are presented as mean ± SD or as number (proportion). AT, antibiotic therapy; MD, medical doctor; SAPS II, simplified acute physiologic score II; SOFA, sequential organ failure assessment; Underlying diseases according to the McCabe score, see material and methods section.