Table 3. Diagnostic performance of WBC count, CRP, PCT, and MDW in predicting sepsis (by Sepsis-3 definition).

	MDW		CRP	PCT	WBC
AUC (95% CI)	0.71 (0.67–0.75)		0.75 (0.71–0.78)	0.76 (0.72–0.79)	0.61* (0.57–0.65)
Cutoff Value	19.8 a	20.0b	4.0 a	0.05a	<4,000/μL or >12,000/μLc
Sensitivity, % (95% CI)	83.0 (76.8–88.1)	81.4† (75.1–86.7)	69.7 (62.6–76.2)	76.6 (69.9–82.3)	49.5 (42.1–56.8)
Specificity, % (95% CI)	49.9 (44.6–55.1)	50.7† (45.4–56.0)	67.0 (61.9–71.9)	67.2 (62.1–72.1)	72.6 (67.7–77.1)
Positive predictive value, % (95% CI)	34.2 (30.3–38.4)	46.2† (43.1–49.3)	52.4 (48.0–56.7)	55.0 (50.8–59.1)	48.4 (43.0–54.0)
Negative predictive value, % (95% CI)	84.9 (80.1–88.7)	83.9† (79.2–87.8)	80.9 (77.2–84.2)	84.6 (80.8–87.8)	73.4 (70.3–76.3)
Positive LR (95% CI)	1.65 (1.47–1.87)	1.65† (1.46–1.87)	2.11 (1.77–2.52)	2.34 (1.98–2.76)	1.80 (1.45–2.25)
Negative LR (95% CI)	0.34 (0.24–0.48)	0.37† (0.27–0.50)	0.45 (0.36–0.57)	0.35 (0.27–0.46)	0.70 (0.60–0.81)

MDW, monocyte distribution width; WBC, white blood cell; CRP, C-reactive protein; PCT, procalcitonin; CI, confidence interval; LR, likelihood ratio.

^aThe cutoff value was adopted from the value maximizing Youden’s index.

^bAdopted from a previous study.

^cThe cutoff value for WBC count was adapted from systemic inflammatory response syndrome.

*The AUC is significantly different from that of MDW.

^†The value derived using the cutoff value from a previous study (20.0).