Table 3 Outcomes according to early corticosteroids use in the first 48 h of ICU admission, compared with never or delayed use

n (%)

n IP-weighted (%)

882

455

191 (21.7%)

84 (18.5%)

485 (55.0%)

259 (57.0%)

206 (23.4%)

112 (24.6%)

ICU mortality, cases/person-days

308 (34.9%) / 57,588

70 (36.6%) /11,893

147 (30.3%) /33,147

91 (44.2%) /12,547

ICU mortality (hazard ratio)

1 (Ref.)

0.75 (0.56–1.00)

1.10 (0.81–1.50)

ICU mortality (cases/person-days; hazard ratio) IP-weighted

116 (25.5%) / 33,198

21 (25%) / 5982

1 (Ref.)

52 (20.1%) / 19,821

0.55 (0.31. 0.95)

43 (38.4%) / 7394

1.06 (0.61–1.85)

7-day mortality, cases/person-days

72 (8.2%) /4229

29 (15.2%) /864

35 (7.2%) /2355

8 (3.9%) /1009

7-day mortality (hazard ratio)

1 (Ref.)

0.45 (0.27–0.73)

0.24 (0.11–0.52)

7-day mortality (cases/person-days; hazard ratio) IP-weighted

27 (6.0%) / 2205

12 (14.3%) / 377

1 (Ref.)

11 (4.2%) / 1276

0.23 (0.10–0.55)

4 (3.6%) / 553

0.20 (0.06–0.62)

ICU length of stay, days

17.8 (14.2)

14.2 (13.0)

16.4 (12.5)

24.7 (16.7)

ICU length of stay (mean difference)

0 (Ref.)

2.2 (− 0.1 to 4.5)

10.6 (7.9–13.3)

ICU length of stay (days; mean difference) IP-weighted

18.1 (15.0)

13.0 (12.7)

0 (Ref.)

16.1 (12.3)

2.6 (− 1.0 to 6.3)

26.6 (18.5)

13.0 (8.2. 17.9)

ICU length of stay among survivors, days

18.0 (14.7)

15.0 (13.0)

16.6 (13.1)

25.7 (18.1)

ICU length of stay among survivors (mean difference)

0 (Ref.)

1.6 (−1.4 to 4.6)

10.7 (7.1–14.4)

ICU length of stay among survivors (days; mean difference) IP-weighted

17.7 (15.0)

13.7 (12.4)

0 (Ref.)

15.9 (12.6)

2.0 (−1.7 to 5.7)

26.7 (19.7)

12.9 (7.1–18.7)

Ventilatory-free days

8.4 (9.4)

9.6 (10.1)

9.6 (9.5)

4.7 (7.3)

Ventilatory-free days (mean difference)

0 (Ref.)

− 0.00 (− 1.5 to 1.5)

− 4.9 (− 6.70 to − 3.09)

Ventilatory-free days (days; mean difference) IP-weighted

9.9 (9.4)

12.3 (9.9)

0 (Ref.)

11.3 (9.3)

0.23 (− 2.41 to 2.87)

5.0 (7.4)

− 5.9 (− 8.7 to − 3.5)

Medical complications, n (%)

860 (97.5%)

179 (93.7%)

477 (98.3%)

204 (99.0%)

Medical complications (odds ratio)

1 (Ref.)

4.00 (1.61–9.94)

6.84 (1.51–30.96)

Medical complications (n %; odds ratio) IP-weighted

443 (97.4%)

78 (92.9%)

1 (Ref.)

255 (98.5%)

3.72 (1.0–13.87)

110 (98.21%)

2.95 (0.57–15.32)

Infectious complications, n (%)

509 (57.7%)

92 (48.2%)

273 (56.3%)

144 (69.9%)

Infectious complications (odds ratio)

1 (Ref.)

1.39 (0.99–1.94)

2.50 (1.66–3.77)

Infectious complications (n %; odds ratio) IP-weighted

259 (56.9%)

35 (41.7%)

1 (Ref.)

139 (53.7%)

1.54 (0.89–2.66)

85 (75.9%)

4.29 (2.23–8.25)