Figure 4.

Cumulative probability of antimicrobial initiation by standardized census at sepsis onset among ward patients with hospital-acquired sepsis using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Adult Sepsis Event criteria. Shaded areas denote 95% confidence intervals; census standardized for each unit by quarter and year; analyses included hospital, admission-year, and episode-quarter fixed effects and were adjusted for age, sex, race, ethnicity, severity of illness (as measured by Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score at sepsis onset), admission diagnosis category (from International Classification of Diseases-Tenth codes), and service type (i.e., medicine vs. surgery). SD = standard deviation.