Table 2 Patient characteristics
Characteristic | All patients (n = 4858) | Blood culture results |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Negative or contamination (n = 2875) | Positive with pathogen (n = 1983) | p value | ||
Age (years) | 70 (59–77) | 70 (59–77) | 70 (59–77) | 0.37 |
Sex (male) | 3060 (63) | 1817 (63) | 1243 (63) | 0.71 |
Origin of infection |  |  |  | < 0.001 |
 Community acquired | 2136 (44.0) | 1172 (39.6) | 964 (46.5) |  |
 Nosocomial (ICU) | 1005 (20.7) | 644 (24.0) | 361 (19.2) |  |
 Nosocomial (ward) | 1579 (32.5) | 990 (34.6) | 589 (31.1) |  |
 Nosocomial (nursing home) | 138 (2.8) | 69 (1.8) | 69 (3.2) |  |
Focus of infection | ||||
 Respiratory | 2035 (41.9) | 1386 (48.2) | 649 (32.7) | < 0.001 |
 Abdominal | 1632 (33.6) | 1040 (36.2) | 592 (29.9) | < 0.001 |
 Urogenital | 744 (15.3) | 288 (10.0) | 456 (23.0) | < 0.001 |
 Bones/soft tissue | 565 (11.6) | 282 (9.8) | 283 (14.3) | < 0.001 |
 Other | 673 (13.9) | 300 (10.4) | 373 (18.8) | < 0.001 |
Clinical data and scores | ||||
 PCT (ng/ml) | 6.4 (1.7–25.6) | 4.1 (1.2–15.5) | 12.6 (3.3–41.9) | < 0.001 |
 CRP (mg/ml) | 208 (116–301) | 196 (111–293) | 219 (125–310) | < 0.001 |
 WBC (109) | 16.3 (10.7–23.5) | 16.1 (10.9–23.1) | 16.4 (10.2–23.8) | 0.85 |
 Leukopenia (WBC ≤ 4) | 545 (11.2) | 281 (9.8) | 264 (13.3) | < 0.001 |
 Temperature (°C) | 38.0 (36.3–38.8) | 37.9 (36.0–38.7) | 38.2 (36.8–39.0) | < 0.001 |
 Lactate (mmol/l) | 2.7 (1.6–5.0) | 2.6 (1.5–4.7) | 3.0 (1.7–5.5) | < 0.001 |
 Urine output (ml/24 h) | 1390 (620–2350) | 1420 (660–2430) | 1320 (580–2300) | 0.02 |
 SOFA | 9 (7–12) | 9 (7–11) | 10 (7–12) | < 0.001 |
 Septic shocka | 2714 (55.9) | 1577 (54.9) | 1137 (57.3) | 0.09 |
Mortality | ||||
 ICU mortality | 1485 (30.6) | 872 (30.4) | 613 (30.9) | 0.68 |
 28-Day mortality | 1562 (33.0) | 888 (31.7) | 674 (34.8) | 0.03 |
 Hospital mortality | 1861 (38.4) | 1080 (37.6) | 781 (39.4) | 0.21 |