Table 1 Clinical and demographic characteristics of the study population (n = 462)

Male

70 (56)

182 (54)

252 (55)

Age (years)

73 [60–82]

63 [45–78]

66 [48–80]

Numbers of comorbidities

 0

46 (37)

188 (56)

234 (51)

 1

38 (31)

84 (25)

122 (26)

 > 1

40 (32)

66 (20)

106 (23)

Comorbidities, n (%)

 Cardiovascular disease

31 (25)

36 (11)

67 (15)

 Renal disease

11 (9)

9 (3)

20 (4)

 Respiratory disease

27 (22)

45 (13)

72 (16)

 Diabetes

33 (27)

77 (23)

110 (24)

Charlson score

4 [2.75–5]

2 [0–5]

3 [1,2,3,4,5]

Diagnostic category at T0

 Sepsis

85 (69)

232 (69)

317 (69)

 Severe sepsis

39 (31)

106 (31)

145 (31)

SOFA category at inclusion

 SOFA < 2

48 (39)

185 (55)

233 (50)

 SOFA ≥ 2

76 (61)

153 (45)

229 (50)

Lactates (mmol/L)

1.7 [1.2–2.3]

1.7 [1.2–2.5]

1.7 [1.2–2.4]

Lymphocytes (G/L)

0.78 [0.4–1.1]

0.94 [0.6–1.4]

0.9 [0.5–1.3]

qSOFA score

 0

39 (31)

14 (44)

188 (41)

 1

81 (65)

185 (55)

266 (58)

 2

4 (3)

4 (1)

8 (2)

Site of infection

 Pulmonary

46 (37)

89 (26)

135 (29)

 Urinary

25 (20)

102 (30)

127 (27)

 Abdominopelvic

34 (27)

83 (25)

117 (25)

 Others

19 (15)

64 (19)

83 (18)

Hospitalization after ED discharge

 Ward

74 (60)

209 (64)

283 (63)

 Surgery

21 (17)

87 (27)

108 (24)

 Stepdown unit

12 (10)

21 (6)

33 (7)

 ICU

16 (13)

9 (3)

25 (6)

ATB delay (hours)

3.9 [2.4–7]

4.1 [2.3–6.7]

4.1 [2.3–6.7]

LOS (days)

8 [6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13]

5 [3,4,5,6,7]

5 [3,4,5,6,7,8,9]

D-28 mortality

6 (5)

6 (2)

12 (3)