| Variables | Early CS treatment (N = 85) | No early CS treatment (N = 156) | p value |
|---|
| Age | 61.0 (56.0–68.0) | 59.0 (49.0–65.5) | 0.211 |
| Male gender | 52 (61.2) | 101 (64.7) | 0.674 |
| APACHE II score | 24.0 (18.0–30.0) | 23.0 (17.0–29.0) | 0.129 |
| BMI | 24.6 (22.1–28.1) | 24.8 (21.2–28.1) | 0.808 |
| Comorbidity |
| Malignancy | 7 (8.2) | 22 (14.1) | 0.217 |
| Diabetes | 26 (30.6) | 43 (27.6) | 0.655 |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 8 (9.4) | 10 (6.4) | 0.445 |
| Chronic airway disease | 10 (11.8) | 11 (7.1) | 0.237 |
| End-stage renal disease | 7 (8.2) | 7 (4.5) | 0.257 |
| Congestive heart failure | 11 (12.9) | 15 (9.6) | 0.515 |
| Influenza | 0.539 |
| Type A | 61 (71.8) | 118 (75.6) | |
| Type B | 24 (28.2) | 38 (24.4) | |
| PaO2/FiO2 ratio | 87.5 (56.0–142.3) | 84.0 (62.0–149.6) | 0.670 |
| Severity of ARDS | 0.539 |
| Severe ARDS | 46 (54.1) | 95 (60.9) | |
| Moderate ARDS | 32 (37.6) | 41 (26.3) | |
| Mild ARDS | 7 (8.2) | 20 (12.8) | |
| Laboratory data |
| WBC count, ×103/μL | 9.6 (5.5–15.5) | 8.8 (5.9–13.0) | 0.253 |
| Hemoglobin, g/dL | 12.5 (10.5–14.2) | 11.9 (10.0–13.5) | 0.102 |
| Platelet count, ×103/μL | 150.0 (108.5–200.5) | 149.0 (102.0–210.0) | 0.770 |
| Albumin, g/dL | 2.9 (2.5–3.3) | 2.9 (2.5–3.2) | 0.670 |
| C-reactive protein, mg/dL | 14.1 (4.2–23.3) | 14.9 (6.7–23.0) | 0.727 |
| Bacterial coinfectionsa | 14 (16.5) | 17 (10.9) | 0.231 |
| Specific treatment |
| Mechanical ventilation | 85 (100.0) | 156 (100.0) | 0.539 |
| Prone positioning or ECMO | 36 (42.4) | 56 (35.9) | 0.334 |
| Prone positioning | 29 (34.1) | 29 (18.6) | 0.011 |
| ECMO | 11 (12.9) | 30 (19.2) | 0.281 |
| Vasopressor infusion | 49 (57.6) | 72 (46.2) | 0.105 |
| Hemodialysis | 16 (18.8) | 24 (15.4) | 0.587 |
| Clinical outcomes |
| Hospital mortality | 37 (43.5) | 30 (19.2) | < 0.001 |
| Hospital days in survivors | 24.8 (17.1–40.1) | 28.2 (19.1–44.4) | 0.475 |
| ICU days in survivors | 13.8 (8.4–23.0) | 14.8 (9.1–21.8) | 0.664 |
| Ventilator days in survivors | 11.9 (8.4–25.3) | 14.4 (7.8–21.7) | 0.953 |
| ICU-free days at Day 28 | 0.0 (0.0–15.2) | 9.2 (0.0–17.6) | 0.012 |
| Ventilator-free days at Day 28 | 0.0 (0.0–17.1) | 11.0 (0.0–19.6) | 0.009 |
- APACHE II Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II, ARDS acute respiratory distress syndrome, BMI body mass index, CS corticosteroid, ECMO extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, FiO2 fraction of inspired oxygen, PaO2 partial pressure of arterial oxygen, WBC white blood cell
- Statistics are presented as the median (25th–75th percentiles) for continuous variables and as number (%) for categorical variables, as appropriate. p values are calculated by Mann–Whitney U test (or known as Wilcoxon rank sum test) and Chi-square test for continuous and categorical variables, respectively
- aBacterial coinfection was defined as positive bacterial cultures from blood, pleural effusion, lower respiratory tract secretion, or urine samples within 48 h of ARDS diagnosis
