The relationship of various prognostic indicators with mortality in intensive care unit patients with sepsis

Aim: Sepsis and septic shock is a major health problem that affects millions of people worldwide each year and causes the death of one-third to one-sixth of those affected. Early identification of patients at high risk of mortality and accurate prediction of outcomes in the early phase of sepsis are essential to provide timely and adequate interventions to these patients. For this purpose, we investigated prognostic indicators that may predict mortality in patients admitted to intensive care units with a diagnosis of sepsis. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out by prospectively analyzing patients who were admitted to the intensive care unit of our hospital with the diagnosis of sepsis and septic shock between 15 March 2023 and 01 January 2024. Patients who met the Sepsis-III criteria of the Third International Consensus on Sepsis and Septic Shock were included in the study. Patients were divided into two groups as survivors and non-survivors. Demographic data, vital signs, comorbidities, organ failure scores, complete blood count, biochemical parameters ans various inflammatory parameters were compared in both groups and their effectiveness in predicting mortality was investigated. Results: Of the 115 patients in our study, 58 (50.4%) were in the dead group and 57 (49.6%) were in the survivor group. Among the 16 different prognostic indicators investigated, PNI, UAR, DAR, lactate/albumin ratios could be used to predict mortality. Among these indicators, PNI was found to have the highest diagnostic power, followed by UAR. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to create models for the use of PNI and UAR in predicting mortality. It was observed that the area under the curve (AUC=0.742) increased significantly in the modelling using PNI and UAR values together (Model-3) (p<0.0001). Conclusion: Our study shows that PNI and UAR indicators, when used together, may be a useful tool in the assessment of mortality risk in patients with sepsis hospitalized in the intensive care unit. KEYWORDS: Intensive Care, Mortality, Sepsis, Septic Shock