Table 1.

Characteristics of included trials

Characteristic	Number of trials (% of 87 included) or median (IQR)
Trial population, n (%)
Severe sepsis or septic shock	35 (40%)
Mixed ICU population	24 (28%)
Specific organ dysfunction	13 (15%)
Trauma	4 (5%)
Cardiac surgery	2 (2%)
Other	9 (10%)
Trial intervention, n (%)
Drug	47 (54%)
Treatment bundle	12 (14%)
Device	10 (11%)
Nutrition	8 (9%)
Ventilation-related	4 (5%)
Other	6 (7%)
Jadad scale, median (IQR)	3 (2 – 3)
Jadad scale ≤1, n (%)	14 (16%)
Multicenter design, n (%)	40 (46%)
Sample size per trial, median (IQR)	64 (40 – 147)
Mean or median baseline SOFA score, median (IQR)	8.5 (7 – 10)
Mortality rate, median (IQR)	28% (19% – 36%)
Primary endpoint, n (%)
SOFA score	19 (22%)
Mortality	14 (16%)
Other	36 (41%)
Not specified	18 (21%)

ICU intensive care unit, IQR interquartile range, SOFA sequential organ failure assessment