Fig. 2

Comparison of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves of qSOFA and SIRS for important clinical outcomes of patients with suspected infection outside the ICU and corresponding p values using the Hanley and McNeil method. Clinical outcomes other than in-hospital mortality (namely, ICU-free days, ventilator-free days, any organ dysfunction-free days, and renal dysfunction-free days) were considered as categorical variables with the median of the entire cohort serving as the threshold. The median of the entire cohort for ICU-free days, ventilator-free days, any organ dysfunction-free days, and renal dysfunction-free days was 22, 28, 5, and 14 days, respectively. Thus, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve and 95% confidence intervals for ICU-free days <22, ventilator-free days <28, any organ dysfunction-free days <5, and renal dysfunction-free days <14 were calculated and displayed in this figure. Abbreviations: qSOFA quick Sequential (Sepsis-related) Organ Failure Assessment, SIRS Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome, ICU intensive care unit