Fig. 1

Sensitivity analysis. Using univariate logistic regression analyses, the effects of corticosteroid treatment (defined by various criteria) on the hospital mortality were assessed, and the odds ratios (with 95% confidence intervals) were presented. Corticosteroid treatment was defined by achieving various cumulative hydrocortisone equivalent doses by various ICU days. Corticosteroid treatment was significantly associated with hospital mortality for all proposed criteria. There was a trend that the earlier use of corticosteroid was associated with the higher odds of hospital mortality. The criteria using cumulative hydrocortisone equivalent dose of ≥ 200 mg by the end of the third ICU day (ICU Day 3) provided the highest odds of hospital mortality