Table 1 Baseline characteristics of patients according to the use of corticosteroids. Delayed = after 48 h of ICU admission

Patients demographics and comorbidities

N (%)

882

191 (21.66%)

485 (54.99%)

206 (23.36%)

Age, years

62.3 (11.4)

60.1 (13.9) ^a

62.9 (10.6)

63.0 (10.8)

0.06

Female (%)

291(33.1%)

66/191 (34.5%)

153/485 (31.5%)

72/204 (35.2%)

0.56

Body mass index (kg/m²)

29.2 (5.3)/550

28.71(5.4)/114

29.2(5.3)/292

29.5(5.3)/144

0.39

Arterial hypertension

420/882 (47.6%)

79/191 (41.4%)

240/485 (49.4%)

101/206 (49.0%)

0.14

Diabetes mellitus

201/882 (22.7%)

43/191 (22.5%)

111/485 (22.9%)

47/206 (22.8%)

1.00

Chronic heart failure

13/882 (1.4%)

1/191 (0.5%)

7/485 (1.4%)

5/206 (2.4%)

0.26

Chronic renal failure

52/882 (5.9%)

11/191 (5.7%)

28/485 (5.7%)

13/206 (6.3%)

0.96

Asthma

24/882 (2.7%)

5/191 (2.6%)

16/485 (3.3%)

3/206 (1.4%)

0.42

COPD

40/882 (4.5%)

5/191 (2.6%)

24/485 (4.9%)

11/206 (5.3%)

0.33

Obese

299/792 (37.7%)

66/170 (38.8%)

158/435 (36.3%)

75/187 (40.1%)

0.63

Dyslipidaemia

132/882 (14.9%)

21/191 (11.0%)

76/485 (15.6%)

35/206 (17.0%)

0.18

Cancer

27/882 (3.1%)

3/191 (1.6%)

8/485 (1.6%)

16/206 (7.8%)

 < 0.001

Laboratory findings

Haematocrit (%)

39.2 (5.7)/602

39.1(6.0)/122

39.3(5.6)/313

38.9(5.80)/167

0.62

Platelets, 1000/mm³

236 (108)/672

232(106)/130

242(108)/367

222(108)/175

0.11

Leukocytes, 10³/μL

9.1(5.8)/663

8.6 (5.2)/129

9.4 (6.1)/360

8.6 (5.5)/174

0.10

Lymphocytes, μL

0.82 (0.72)/658

0.82 (0.45)/126

0.84 (0.87)/361

0.76 (0.49)/171

0.16

CRP, mg/dL

74.5 (98.9)/623

85.4 (110.9)/119

69.0 (93.2)/349

78.5 (101.2)/155

0.08

Lactate, mmol/L

0.43 (0.94)/475

0.39 (0.53)/99

0.44 (0.88)/245

0.46 (1.26)/131

0.27

Ferritin, ng/mL

1665 (1658)/285

1744(2191)/38

1725(1669)/179

1459(1241)/68

0.52

D-Dimer, ng/mL

2026 (2339)/522

1586 (1957)/96^a

2184 (2507)/292

1996 (2177)/134

0.06

CRP/lymphocyte ratio

131 (234)/617

158 (342)/118

110(168)/344

154 (254)/155

0.08

IL-6, pg/mL

253 (486)/87

269 (154)/4

289 (543)/62

143 (308)/21

0.08

LDH, U/L

484 (240)/595

453 (268)/114^a

483 (215)/330

508 (264)/151

0.06

Procalcitonin, ng/mL

1.36 (5.1)/454

0.91 (2.4)/83

1.15 (4.0)/260

2.18 (8.0)/111

0.44

Bilirubin, mg/dL

0.82 (1.16)/567

0.91 (1.46)/98

0.76 (0.61)/322

0.87 (1.72)/147

0.89

AST, U/L

58.3 (86.6)/650

68.5 (148.7)/122

57.2 (60.1)/359

53.3 (72.4)/169

0.45

Creatinine, mg/dL

1.05 (0.68)/658

1.07 (0.76)/124

1.03 (0.66)/361

1.07 (0.66)/173

0.90

Urea, mg/dL

46.5 (28.0)/462

43.7 (35.3)/80

46.6 (27.4)/265

47.9 (23.0)/117

0.05

NTProBNP, pg/mL

1880 (5166)/96

375 (1278)/64

177 (780)/194

89 (451)/83

0.28

Vital signs and organ support

Mechanical ventilation, n (%)

27/882 (3.1%)

2/191 (1.0%)

20/485 (4.1%)

5/206 (2.4%)

0.09

Vasopressor use, n (%)

377/882 (42.7%)

77/191 (40.3%)

214/485 (44.1%)

86/206 (41.8%)

0.64

Renal replacement therapy, n (%)

5/882 (0.6%)

2/191 (1.0%)

2/485 (0.4%)

1/206 (0.5%)

0.62

PaO₂/FiO₂

150 (77)/559

153 (78)/107

151 (77)/305

146 (76)/147

0.71

PEEP, cmH2O

13.8 (2.6) / 257

13.5 (2.5) /51

14.0 (2.5) /136

13.4 (2.8) /70

0.15

SpO₂, %

88.1 (9.2)/641

87.6 (10.6)/136

88.4 (7.8)/342

87.8 (10.4)/163

0.84

Respiratory rate, bpm

25.7 (7.3)/604

26.6 (8.7)/126

24.8 (6.5)/321

26.6 (7.3)/157

0.02

PaCO2, mmHg

40.2 (12.5) /615

40.4 (13.7) /128

40.0 (11.9) /325

40.5 (12.7) /162

0.91

Temperature, ºC

36.9 (1.1)/654

37.0 (1.1)/137

36.7 (1.0)/345

37.1 (1.1)/172

0.001

Mean arterial pressure, mmHg

86.7 (15.3)/644

86.9 (14.8)/134

86.8 (15.8)/341

86.3 (14.7)/169

0.96

Heart rate, bpm

85.2 (18.8)/658

88.2 (19.3)/142

84.0 (18.9)/346

84.9 (17.9)/170

0.18

Severity scores

Apache II

13.51 (6.35)/600

12.45 (5.85)/121

13.77 (6.67)/348

13.78 (5.84)/131

0.17

CURB65

1.86 (1.22)/288

1.67 (1.26)/60

1.93 (1.23)/150

1.90 (1.16)/78

0.32

SOFA

5.64 (2.94)/474

5.85 (3.18)/86

5.58 (2.99)/266

5.60 (2.65)/122

0.66