Table 1 Characteristics of the study population

Age, years, median (IQR)

65 (53–74)

69 (59–78) *

70 (63–78) *

0.023

Male sex, n (%)

53 (50.5)

316 (56.6)

51 (53.1)

0.46

Body mass index (kg/m²)

23.0 (20.2–25.4)

22.0 (19.5–25.6)

23.3 (19.5–25.6)

0.20

Medical history, n (%)

 CKD with dialysis

2 (1.9)

43 (7.8)

11 (11.5) *

0.030

 Chronic liver disease

15 (14.3)

47 (8.5)

8 (8.3)

0.16

 Diabetes mellitus

21 (20.0)

158 (28.4)

32 (33.3)

0.094

 Hypertension

41 (39.1)

283 (50.9)

57 (59.4) *

0.014

 Origin of sepsis, n (%)

0.12

 Abdomen

46 (43.8)

310 (55.6)

41 (42.7)

 Thorax

24 (22.9)

114 (20.4)

25 (26.0)

 Urinary tract

6 (5.7)

24 (4.3)

4 (4.2)

 Other

29 (27.6)

110 (19.7)

26 (27.1)

Laboratory values, median (IQR)

 Mg, mg/dL

1.4 (1.3–1.5)

2.0 (1.8–2.2) **

2.7 (2.5–2.9) ** ††

 < 0.001

 Albumin, mg/dL

2.4 (1.9–2.9)

2.4 (2.0–2.8)

2.3 (2.1–2.8)

0.81

 Bilirubin, mg/dL

0.92 (0.64–1.57)

0.87 (0.59–1.40)

0.72 (0.50–1.29) * †

0.048

 Creatinine, mg/dL

1.51 (0.83–2.20)

1.00 (0.67–1.96) *

1.72 (0.93–3.82) ††

 < 0.001

 CRP, mg/dL

9.5 (5.0–16.0)

13.7 (5.9–23.5) *

13.4 (7.7–21.1) *

0.019

 Ionized calcium, mmol/L

0.99 (0.92–1.07)

1.06 (1.0–1.11) **

1.06 (0.98–1.16) **

 < 0.001

 Platelet, 10⁴/μL

11.2 (5.5–16.6)

14.8 (9.6–22.8) **

15.1 (10.0–19.9) **

 < 0.001

 PT-INR

1.52 (1.31–1.82)

1.37 (1.23–1.55) **

1.36 (1.23–1.61)

 < 0.001

Organ support, n (%)

 Mechanical ventilation

91 (86.7)

457 (82.0)

81 (84.4)

0.45

 Renal replacement therapy

34 (32.4)

113 (20.3) *

35 (36.5) ††

 < 0.001

Severity of disease

 SOFA score on ICU admission, median (IQR)

9 (6–11)

7 (4–9) *

9 (6–11) †

 < 0.001

 APACHE II score, median (IQR)

25 (20–33)

23 (17–29) **

27 (20–33) ††

 < 0.001

 Septic shock, n (%)

74 (70.5)

224 (40.1) **

41 (42.7) **

 < 0.001

 Need for vasopressors within ICU admission day, n (%)

86 (81.9)

398 (71.3)

74 (77.1)

0.055

 Hospital mortality, n (%)

27 (25.7)

80 (14.3) *

24 (25.0) †

0.002