Prognostic value of PaO₂/FiO₂, SOFA and D-dimer in elderly patients with sepsis

To investigate the prognostic value for predicting mortality of partial pressure of oxygen/fraction of inspired oxygen (PaO₂/FiO₂), the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score and D-dimer in elderly patients with sepsis.

This retrospective cohort study enrolled elderly patients with sepsis admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) between January 2019 and October 2020. Patients were divided into a survival group and a non-survival group. Biomarkers, SOFA, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II and Glasgow Coma Scale scores were recorded within 24 h after admission to the ICU.

A total of 135 elderly patients with sepsis were enrolled in the study: 89 were in the survival group and 46 were in the non-survival group at 28 days. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses demonstrated that PaO₂/FiO₂, SOFA and D-dimer were independently associated with 28-day mortality. The predictive performance for mortality of the combination of PaO₂/FiO₂, SOFA score and D-dimer (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.926) was higher than the values for the individual factors (0.761, 0.745 and 0.878, respectively).

The combination of PaO₂/FiO₂, SOFA score and D-dimer represents a promising tool and biomarker for predicting 28-day mortality of the elderly patients with sepsis.