Table 1 Patient characteristics in the initial cohort

Demographics

   Age (yrs)

60.8 ± 16.3

63.9 ± 15.1

58.1 ± 16.8

<0.0001

> 60 yrs

57.9

64.1

52.5

0.0001

   Male

62.0

61.5

62.5

0.7265

   Weight (kg)

73.9 ± 17.4

73.5 ± 17.3

74.2 ± 17.4

0.5546

Prior location

0.0702

   Medical or surgical department

40.4

44.0

37.3

   Emergency department

28.4

27.1

29.5

   Another acute care hospital

22.6

19.8

25.0

   Home

8.6

9.1

8.2

Reason for ICU admission

0.9168

   Medical

71.7

72.1

71.4

   Surgical

27.0

26.5

27.4

   Trauma

1.3

1.4

1.2

Disease severity

   SAPS II on admission

56.6 ± 18.6

56.9 ± 19.1

56.2 ± 18.1

0.5427

   LOD score at enrolment^a

7.67 ± 2.82

7.44 ± 2.93

7.87 ± 2.71

0.0112

   Organ failure at enrolment^a

3.21 ± 0.86

3.10 ± 0.86

3.31 ± 0.85

<0.0001

Acute lung injury

2.1 ± 1.1

1.9 ± 1.2

2.2 ± 1.0

<0.0001

Acute renal failure

3.4 ± 1.7

3.3 ± 1.8

3.4 ± 1.7

0.3777

Coagulopathy

0.3 ± 0.7

0.3 ± 0.6

0.3 ± 0.7

0.0629

Acute liver failure

0.3 ± 0.5

0.3 ± 0.5

0.3 ± 0.5

0.1831

Acute cardiovascular Failure

1.6 ± 1.3

1.7 ± 1.3

1.6 ± 1.2

0.4399

   Shock at enrolment

93.7

92.5

94.7

0.1375

Co-morbid conditions

   McCabe

<0.0001

0

36.4

30.8

41.5

1

35.9

34.2

37.5

2

21.5

26.0

17.5

3

6.1

9.0

3.6

   Chronic renal failure

6.3

7.7

5.0

0.0649

   Chronic liver disease

4.2

4.4

4.1

0.8593

   Congestive cardiomyopathy

13.0

14.1

12.0

0.3018

   COPD

14.3

14.7

14.1

0.7824

   Diabetes mellitus

6.5

6.8

6.2

0.7123

   Immunosuppressive treatment

6.1

5.7

6.4

0.6653

   Chemotherapy

3.2

3.9

2.6

0.1982

   Metastatic cancer

5.0

6.4

3.8

0.0553

   Haematological malignancies

3.3

4.2

2.6

0.1450

   HIV

1.8

1.4

2.1

0.4018

Infection site

   Lung

49.2

50.1

48.4

0.5867

   Intra-abdominal

26.2

27.6

25.0

0.3454

   Urinary tract

9.8

12.0

7.9

0.0273

   CNS

4.9

2.7

6.7

0.0032