Table 1.
Clinical characteristics of study subjects
| Controls (n = 51) | Sepsis (n = 131) | p Value | Survivors (n = 98) | Nonsurvivors (n = 33) | p Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years | 60 (53–66) | 62 (48–74) | 0.65 | 57 (47–69) | 71 (61–78) | <0.01 |
| Male sex | 26 (51 %) | 75 (57 %) | 0.45 | 56 (57 %) | 19 (58 %) | 0.97 |
| Race | 0.23 | 0.09 | ||||
| White | 48 (94 %) | 108 (82 %) | 81 (83 %) | 27 (82 %) | ||
| African American | 3 (6 %) | 20 (15 %) | 16 (16 %) | 4 (12 %) | ||
| Asian | 0 | 1 (1 %) | 1 (1 %) | 0 | ||
| Hispanic/Latino | 0 | 2 (2 %) | 0 | 2 (6 %) | ||
| Charlson comorbidity index [32] | 0 (0–1) | 3 (1–6) | <0.01 | 2 (1–5) | 4 (3–8) | <0.01 |
| Admission type | – | 0.01 | ||||
| Medical patient | – | 118 (90 %) | 92 (78 %) | 26 (22 %) | ||
| Surgical patient | – | 13 (10 %) | 6 (46 %) | 7 (54 %) | ||
| Site of infection | – | 0.74 | ||||
| Pulmonary | – | 76 (58 %) | 54 (55 %) | 22 (67 %) | ||
| Intra-abdominal | – | 19 (15 %) | 14 (14 %) | 5 (15 %) | ||
| Urinary | – | 15 (11 %) | 13 (13 %) | 2 (6 %) | ||
| Skin/catheter | – | 6 (5 %) | 5 (5 %) | 1 (3 %) | ||
| Other | – | 15 (11 %) | 12 (12 %) | 3 (9 %) | ||
| Microbiology | – | 0.34 | ||||
| Gram-positive bacteria | – | 42 (32 %) | 30 (31 %) | 12 (36 %) | ||
| Gram-negative bacteria | – | 20 (15 %) | 15 (15 %) | 5 (2 %) | ||
| Fungal | – | 3 (2 %) | 3 (3 %) | 0 | ||
| Mixed or other | – | 27 (21 %) | 17 (17 %) | 10 (30 %) | ||
| Unknown | – | 39 (30 %) | 33 (34 %) | 6 (2 %) | ||
| Positive blood culture | – | 48 (37 %) | – | 36 (37 %) | 12 (36 %) | 0.97 |
| Septic shocka | – | 107 (82 %) | – | 75 (77 %) | 32 (97 %) | 0.01 |
| APACHE II score | – | 24 ± 9 | – | 22 ± 8 | 30 ± 9 | <0.01 |
| SOFA scoreb | ||||||
| Minimum | – | 7 (5–9) | – | 6 (4–8) | 11 (8–12) | <0.01 |
| Maximum | – | 10 (8–13) | – | 9 (8–11) | 13 (11–16) | <0.01 |
| Mean | – | 8 (6–11) | – | 8 (6–9) | 12 (9–14) | <0.01 |
| ICU LOS, days | – | 6 (3–12) | – | 6 (3–11) | 8 (3–17) | 0.21 |
| Hospital LOS, days | – | 15 (9–29) | 14 (9–26) | 15 (7–39) | 0.43 | |
| Ventilator-free days 0–28c | – | 21 (3–28) | – | 24 (20–28) | 0 (0–0) | <0.01 |
Abbreviations: APACHE II Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II [29], SOFA Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment, LOS Length of stay, ICU Intensive care unit
Values are median (interquartile range), number (percentage), or mean ± SD
aShock was defined as hypotension or vasopressor dependence that persisted for ≥3 h despite fluid challenge at the time of diagnosis
bDaily SOFA scores were calculated. Values refer to the minimum, maximum, and mean SOFA scores from the day of diagnosis through day 7
cVentilator-free days 0–28 represent the number of days free of ventilator support from the day of diagnosis through day 28