Table 1 Baseline characteristics of patients with severe sepsis and septic shock according to the timing of antibiotic administration

Number of patients, n

1124

343

327

161

94

103

96

Age at admission in years, median (IQR)

73 (65–82)

73 (63–81)

75 (66–82)

68 (58–78)

74 (67–81)

74 (63–83)

0.035

Gender, n (% male)

196 (57.1)

190 (58.1)

102 (63.4)

65 (69.2)

65 (63.1)

57 (59.4)

0.295

Admission source, n (%)

ED

210 (61.4)

194 (59.3)

94 (58.4)

45 (47.9)

56 (54.4)

32 (33.3)

< 0.01

ICU

22 (6.4)

8 (2.5)

3 (1.9)

3 (3.2)

3 (2.9)

4 (4.2)

Ward

110 (32.2)

125 (38.2)

64 (39.8)

46 (48.9)

44 (42.7)

60 (62.5)

Carlson comorbidity index, median (IQR)

1 (0–2)

1 (0–2)

1 (0–2)

1 (0–2)

1 (0–2)

1 (0–2)

0.8543

112 (32.8)

100 (30.8)

51 (31.9)

41 (44.1)

42 (41.6)

55 (57.3)

< 0.01

Suspected site of infection, n (%)

Lung

91 (26.5)

102 (31.2)

62 (38.5)

31 (33.0)

34 (33.0)

31 (32.2)

0.003

Abdomen

102 (29.7)

69 (21.1)

34 (21.1)

22 (23.4)

30 (29.1)

32 (33.3)

Urinary tract

73 (21.3)

76 (23.2)

27 (16.8)

13 (13.8)

12 (11.7)

11 (11.5)

Soft tissue and wound

32 (9.3)

44 (13.5)

16 (9.9)

15 (16.0)

12 (11.7)

5 (5.2)

Central nervous system

8 (2.3)

2 (0.6)

3 (1.9)

4 (4.3)

4 (3.9)

0 (0)

Blood stream-related

12 (3.5)

18 (5.5)

10 (6.2)

7 (7.5)

6 (5.8)

10 (10.4)

Others

25 (7.3)

16 (4.9)

9 (5.6)

2 (2.1)

5 (4.9)

7 (7.3)

Positivity of blood cultures, n (%)

192 (56.3)

162 (49.7)

86 (54.1)

50 (53.2)

60 (58.3)

52 (54.2)

0.561

Septic shock, n (%)

215 (62.7)

207 (63.3)

94 (58.4)

61 (64.9)

69 (67.0)

57 (59.4)

0.735

Mechanical ventilation, n (%)

142 (42.3)

129 (40.6)

58 (37.2)

36 (39.1)

43 (42.2)

38 (40.9)

0.932

Organ dysfunction on arrival

Hypotension, n (%)

193 (56.3)

178 (54.4)

74 (46.0)

59 (62.8)

65 (63.1)

46 (47.9)

0.029

Hyperlactatemia (> 2 mmol/L), n (%)

240 (70.0)

214 (65.4)

119 (73.9)

61 (64.9)

69 (67.0)

45 (46.9)

< 0.01

Acute kidney injury (creatinine > 2 mg/dL), n (%)

134 (39.1)

118 (36.1)

64 (39.8)

34 (36.2)

37 (35.9)

37 (38.5)

0.946

Acute lung injury, n (%)

115 (33.5)

120 (36.7)

72 (44.7)

37 (39.4)

36 (35.0)

37 (38.5)

0.269

Hyperbilirubinemia (> 2.0 mg/dL), n (%)

58 (16.9)

48 (14.7)

31 (19.3)

17 (18.1)

17 (16.5)

21 (21.9)

0.62

Thrombocytopenia (< 100,000/μL), n (%)

104 (30.3)

91 (27.8)

43 (26.7)

29 (30.9)

31 (30.1)

28 (29.2)

0.951

Coagulopathy (INR > 1.5), n (%)

70 (20.4)

61 (18.7)

25 (15.5)

18 (19.2)

15 (14.6)

18 (18.8)

0.72

Number of organ dysfunction, median (IQR)

2 (2–4)

2 (1–3)

2 (2–3)

3 (2–4)

2 (1–3)

2 (1–3)

0.1893

APACHE II score, median (IQR)

22 (17–30)

22 (16–28)

23 (18–31)

21 (16–29)

25 (19–32)

24 (18–29)

0.1613

SOFA score, median (IQR)

9 (6–11)

8 (6–11)

9 (5–11)

8 (6–11)

9 (6–12)

8 (5–11)

0.7155

Blood cultures before antibiotics completed within 3 h, n (%)

318 (93.0)

310 (95.4)

148 (91.9)

83 (88.3)

94 (91.3)

78 (81.3)

< 0.01

Intravenous fluid bolus completed within 3 h (30 mg/kg crystalloid), n (%)

No

37 (10.9)

50 (15.3)

32 (20.1)

21 (22.6)

22 (21.4)

27 (28.1)

0.001

Yes

212 (62.4)

185 (56.6)

75 (47.2)

43 (46.2)

53 (51.5)

40 (41.7)

Not indicated

91 (26.8)

92 (28.1)

52 (32.7)

29 (31.2)

28 (27.2)

29 (30.2)

Serum lactate obtained, n (%)

331 (96.8)

321 (98.2)

153 (95.0)

92 (97.9)

99 (96.1)

92 (95.8)

0.483

Entire 3-h bundle if indicated (n = 796), n/total (%)

194/249 (77.9)

170/234 (72.7)

67/107 (62.6)

25/64 (39.1)

33/75 (44.0)

21/67 (31.3)

< 0.01