Table 2. Demographic and hospital characteristics for the overall study population (N = 933,591).
| Characteristic | Sepsis biomarker use category | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| >1 PCT | 1 PCT | 0 PCT, ≥1 CRP, and/or lactate | No sepsis biomarkers | ||
| Number of discharges | 34,245 (100) | 79,234 (100) | 617,913 (100) | 202,199 (100) | |
| Mean age, years (SD) | 66.7 (16.2) | 67.2 (16.8) | 67.2 (17.0) | 66.5 (18.2) | |
| Age at index date (years) | |||||
| 18–44 | 3434 (10.0) | 8435 (10.7) | 68,829 (11.1) | 27,580 (13.6) | |
| 45–64 | 10,246 (29.9) | 22,259 (28.1) | 173,207 (28.0) | 52,726 (26.1) | |
| 65–74 | 8085 (23.6) | 17,859 (22.5) | 131,340 (21.3) | 40,208 (19.9) | |
| 75+ | 12,480 (36.4) | 30,681 (38.7) | 244,537 (39.6) | 81,685 (40.4) | |
| Sex | |||||
| Male | 17,113 (50.0) | 38,378 (48.4) | 294,821 (47.7) | 89,003 (44.0) | |
| Female | 17,131 (50.0) | 40,855 (51.6) | 323,088 (52.3) | 113,196 (56.0) | |
| Unknown | 1 (0.0) | 1 (0.0) | 4 (0.0) | 0 | |
| Race | |||||
| Black | 4273 (12.5) | 8992 (11.4) | 73,231 (11.8) | 24,611 (12.2) | |
| White | 27,156 (79.3) | 60,567 (76.4) | 433,681 (70.2) | 148,181 (73.3) | |
| Other | 2816 (8.2) | 9675 (12.2) | 111,001 (18.0) | 29,407 (14.5) | |
| Primary health insurance payer | |||||
| Commercial | 5055 (14.8) | 11,663 (14.7) | 88,294 (14.3) | 34,551 (17.1) | |
| Medicare | 23,303 (68.1) | 54,168 (68.4) | 419,121 (67.8) | 130,809 (64.7) | |
| Medicaid | 3523 (10.3) | 8033 (10.1) | 71,715 (11.6) | 19,751 (9.8) | |
| Other | 2364 (6.9) | 5370 (6.8) | 38,783 (6.3) | 17,088 (8.4) | |
| Hospital location (US Census region) | |||||
| Northeast | 1015 (3.0) | 4283 (5.4) | 119,025 (19.3) | 28,087 (13.9) | |
| Midwest | 5774 (16.9) | 13,400 (16.9) | 115,865 (18.7) | 39,662 (19.6) | |
| South | 21,170 (61.8) | 46,993 (59.3) | 262,801 (42.5) | 107,759 (53.3) | |
| West | 6286 (18.4) | 14,558 (18.4) | 120,222 (19.5) | 26,691 (13.2) | |
| Hospital teaching status | |||||
| Teaching | 13,020 (38.0) | 25,420 (32.1) | 261,384 (42.3) | 72,269 (35.7) | |
| Non-teaching | 21,225 (62.0) | 53,814 (67.9) | 356,529 (57.7) | 129,930 (64.3) | |
| Urban or rural hospital location | |||||
| Urban | 31,540 (92.1) | 72,716 (91.8) | 529,707 (85.7) | 167,284 (82.7) | |
| Rural | 2705 (7.9) | 6518 (8.2) | 88,206 (14.3) | 34,915 (17.3) | |
| Hospital size (number of beds) | |||||
| 0–99 | 1349 (3.9) | 3226 (4.1) | 33,308 (5.4) | 16,505 (8.2) | |
| 100–299 | 8785 (25.7) | 19,495 (24.6) | 232,705 (37.7) | 77,943 (38.5) | |
| 300–499 | 12,282 (35.9) | 28,680 (36.2) | 182,346 (29.5) | 61,161 (30.3) | |
| ≥500 | 11,829 (34.5) | 27,883 (35.1) | 169,554 (27.4) | 46,590 (23.0) | |
CRP, C-reactive protein; PCT, procalcitonin; SD, standard deviation.
Data are presented as number (%) unless stated otherwise.
Differences between groups were statistically significant (p <0.001) for all variables.