The clinical value of PLR, NLR, and MLR in predicting mortality risk in hospitalized patients

To analyze the trends and clinical significance of the platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR), neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and monocyte/lymphocyte ratio (MLR) in hospitalized patients prior to death.

A retrospective analysis was conducted on the PLR, NLR, and MLR of 341 hospitalized patients prior to death from January 2016 to October 2020 at Changzhou De'an Hospital, using inpatients with kidney disease and patients in rehabilitation as case-control groups, and hospital staff as a healthy control group, to statistically analyze relevant clinical data and test results.

Significant differences were observed in the PLR, NLR, and MLR prior to death in hospitalized patients compared to those with kidney disease, those in recovery, and the healthy control group (P < 0.05). No statistically significant differences were found among different genders and age groups. The PLR, NLR, and MLR showed significant correlations with potential mortality risk, and middle-to-high performance in discriminating mortality events with area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.690, 0.866, 0.833 respectively for independent indicators. The PLR, NLR, and MLR significantly increased within 4 weeks, 1 week, and 48 h before death (P < 0.05). As the condition fluctuates, the PLR, NLR, and MLR exhibit fluctuating changes. The NLR was significantly higher in patients with malignant tumors and severe infections compared to those with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and the sudden death group (P < 0.05).

The PLR, NLR, and MLR significantly associate with mortality risk in hospitalized patients, and could serve as important identification parameters for mortality.