Skip to main content

Table 3 Procalcitonin cutoffs (0.1 and 0.25 μg/L) for risk prediction in different clinical settings and in various acute respiratory infection subgroupsa

From: Prognostic value of procalcitonin in respiratory tract infections across clinical settings

Cutoff (μg/L)

0.1 μg/L

0.25 μg/L

Sensitivity (%)

Specificity (%)

PPV (%)

NPV (%)

Sensitivity (%)

Specificity (%)

PPV (%)

NPV (%)

(95% CI)

(95% CI)

(95% CI)

(95% CI)

(95% CI)

(95% CI)

(95% CI)

(95% CI)

PC

        

 Treatment failure

19.8 (15.6, 24.6)

81.3 (78.2, 84.1)

33.3 (26.7, 40.5)

68.2 (64.9, 71.4)

3.41 (1.71, 6.01)

98.1 (96.8, 99.0)

45.8 (25.6, 67.2)

68.3 (65.2, 71.2)

ED

        

 Treatment failure

86.1 (82.4, 89.3)

26.1 (24.2, 28.0)

17.9 (16.2, 19.7)

90.9 (88.4, 93.1)

65.6 (60.8, 70.2)

53.1 (51.0, 55.2)

20.8 (18.6, 23.1)

89.2 (87.4, 90.8)

 Mortality

92.5 (86.2, 96.5)

25.0 (23.3, 26.7)

5.63 (4.65, 6.74)

98.6 (97.3, 99.3)

72.5 (63.6, 80.3)

51.2 (49.3, 53.2)

6.71 (5.4, 8.2)

97.5 (96.5, 98.3)

ICU

        

 Mortality

95.2 (89.8, 98.2)

4.21 (2.43, 6.75)

24.6 (20.9, 28.7)

72.7 (49.8, 89.3)

80.8 (72.8, 87.3)

18.9 (15.1, 23.3)

24.7 (20.6, 29.2)

75.0 (65.1, 83.3)

Total lower ARI

        

 Treatment failure

76.4 (72.9, 79.6)

28.2 (26.5, 29.9)

19.6 (18.1, 21.2)

83.9 (81.4, 86.1)

57.4 (53.5, 61.3)

52.8 (51.0, 54.7)

21.8 (19.9, 23.9)

84.4 (82.6, 86.0)

 Mortality

94.5 (90.8, 97.0)

28.9 (27.4, 30.5)

8.89 (7.8, 10.1)

98.6 (97.7, 99.3)

78.1 (72.2, 83.2)

53.0 (51.3, 54.8)

10.9 (9.42, 12.4)

97.1 (96.2, 97.8)

Bronchitis

        

 Treatment failure

28.6 (20.2, 38.2)

68.0 (63.3, 72.4)

18.1 (12.5, 24.8)

79.4 (74.9, 83.4)

3.81 (1.05, 9.47)

92.5 (89.5, 94.8)

11.1 (3.11, 26.1)

79.6 (75.7, 83.0)

 Mortality

100 (15.8, 100)

68.9 (64.8, 72.9)

1.20 (0.15, 4.28)

100 (99.0, 100)

0.00 (0.00, 84.2)

93.2 (90.7, 95.2)

0.00 (0.00, 9.74)

99.6 (98.5, 100)

ECOPD

        

 Treatment failure

60.0 (48.4, 70.8)

49.8 (45.3, 54.3)

16.0 (12.0, 20.6)

88.7 (84.4, 92.1)

27.5 (18.1, 38.6)

85.9 (82.5, 88.8)

23.7 (15.5, 33.6)

88.1 (84.9, 90.9)

 Mortality

82.4 (56.6, 96.2)

49.4 (45.2, 53.6)

4.67 (2.57, 7.71)

98.9 (96.9, 99.8)

47.1 (23.0, 72.2)

85.0 (81.7, 87.8)

8.60 (3.79, 16.2)

98.2 (96.5, 99.2)

CAP

        

 Treatment failure

92.5 (89.5, 94.8)

12.1 (10.5, 13.8)

22.2 (20.3, 24.2)

85.5 (80.2, 89.9)

77.1 (72.8, 81.0)

35.0 (32.6, 37.4)

24.3 (22.1, 26.7)

84.9 (81.9, 87.6)

 Mortality

94.9 (90.9, 97.5)

11.8 (10.3, 13.4)

10.6 (9.20, 12.1)

95.5 (91.8, 97.8)

81.2 (75.1, 86.4)

33.9 (31.7, 36.1)

11.9 (10.2, 13.8)

94.2 (92.2, 95.9)

  1. aARI, Acute respiratory tract infection; CAP, Community-acquired pneumonia; CI, Confidence interval; ECOPD, Exacerbated chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; ED, Emergency department; ICU, Intensive care unit; NA, Not applicable due to small sample size; NPV, Negative predictive value; PC, Primary care; PCT, Procalcitonin; PPV, Positive predictive value.