Demographic characteristics of patients assessed on the Emergency Multidisciplinary Unit during this analysis with suspected infection (n=316)
| Item | All patients with suspected infection | ≥85 years old | <85 years old | |||||||||
| N | Need for escalated care | P values | N | Need for escalated care | P values | N | Need for escalated care | P values | ||||
| Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | |||||||
| Subjects | 316 | 120 (38.0%) | 196 (62.0%) | – | 114 | 35 (30.7%) | 79 (69.3%) | – | 202 | 85 (42.1%) | 117 (57.9%) | – |
| Proportion male | 316 | 57 (47.5%) | 79 (40.3%) | 0.210 | 114 | 10 (28.6%) | 33 (41.8%) | 0.180 | 202 | 47 (55.3%) | 46 (39.3%) | 0.024 |
| Age (years) | 316 | 74.5 (16.6) | 75.2 (18.3) | 0.708 | 114 | 90.2 (3.3) | 89.7 (3.9) | 0.442 | 202 | 68.0 (15.5) | 65.4 (17.7) | 0.283 |
| Heart rate (beats per minute) | 315 | 89.6 (18.9) | 83.8 (17.8) | 0.006 | 114 | 89.5 (19.2) | 79.29 (15.5) | 0.003 | 201 | 89.6 (18.9) | 86.9 (18.6) | 0.306 |
| Respiratory rate | 314 | 21.6 (6.4) | 21.3 (5.3) | 0.643 | 113 | 24.4 (8.2) | 20.7 (5.2) | 0.016 | 201 | 20.5 (5.1) | 21.7 (5.4) | 0.094 |
| Systolic blood pressure | 314 | 132.2 (20.1) | 135.9 (26.7) | 0.172 | 113 | 129.1 (21.4) | 132.0 (26.1) | 0.534 | 201 | 133.5 (19.5) | 138.5 (26.9) | 0.133 |
| Oxygen saturations (%) | 313 | 96 (94–98) | 97 (95–98) | 0.007 | 113 | 96 (93–97) | 97 (95–98) | 0.009 | 200 | 96 (94–98) | 97 (94–98) | 0.132 |
| Temperature (oC) | 314 | 37.0 (0.9) | 36.6 (0.6) | <0.001 | 113 | 36.9 (0.9) | 36.5 (0.6) | 0.044 | 201 | 37.1 (0.9) | 36.7 (0.6) | 0.001 |
| AMTS | 303 | 10 (8–10) | 10 (9–10) | 0.155 | 107 | 7 (5–9) | 9 (7–10) | 0.008 | 196 | 10 (9–10) | 10 (9–10) | 0.532 |
| Known dementia diagnosis | 316 | 21 (17.5%) | 23 (11.7%) | 0.151 | 114 | 9 (25.7%) | 14 (17.7%) | 0.327 | 202 | 12 (14.1%) | 9 (7.7%) | 0.140 |
| New confusion | 316 | 22 (18.3%) | 27 (13.8%) | 0.172 | 114 | 15 (42.9%) | 18 (22.8%) | 0.012 | 202 | 7 (8.2%) | 9 (7.7%) | 0.769 |
| White cell count (x 109/L) | 274 | 14.5 (17.4) | 9.3 (3.7) | 0.003 | 99 | 13.9 (6.4) | 9.3 (4.1) | 0.001 | 175 | 14.7 (20.4) | 9.3 (3.3) | 0.028 |
| Mortality (30 day) | 316 | 14 (11.7%) | 11 (5.6%) | 0.053 | 114 | 8 (22.9%) | 5 (6.3%) | 0.010 | 202 | 6 (7.1%) | 6 (5.1%) | 0.567 |
| Barthel score ≥15 | 316 | 80 (66.7%) | 150 (76.5%) | 0.056 | 114 | 17 (48.6%) | 53 (67.1%) | 0.061 | 202 | 63 (74.1%) | 97 (82.9%) | 0.129 |
| Sepsis scores at initial presentation | ||||||||||||
| NEWS | 316 | 3 (1–5) | 3 (1–4) | 114 | 4 (3–9) | 3 (1–4) | 202 | 3 (1–5) | 3 (1–5) | |||
| SIRS criteria | 316 | 1 (1–2) | 1 (0–2) | 114 | 2 (1–2) | 1 (0–1) | 202 | 1 (0–2) | 1 (0–2) | |||
| qSOFA criteria | 316 | 1 (0–1) | 1 (0–1) | 114 | 1 (1–2) | 1 (0–1) | 202 | 0 (0–1) | 1 (0–1) | |||
| NICE HR | 316 | 45 (37.5%) | 69 (35.2%) | 114 | 21 (60.0%) | 31 (39.2%) | 202 | 24 (28.2%) | 38 (32.5%) | |||
| NICE MR and HR | 316 | 96 (80.0%) | 154 (78.6%) | 114 | 31 (88.6%) | 69 (87.3%) | 202 | 65 (76.5%) | 85 (72.7%) | |||
Results displayed as N (%), mean (SD) or median (IQR) unless otherwise indicated. For the scoring systems evaluated, all data points evaluated were available in the following numbers: SIRS (n=272), NICE high risk (n=314), NICE moderate risk and high risk (n=314), qSOFA (n=314) and NEWS (n=313).
AMTS, Abbreviated Mental Test Score; NEWS, National Early Warning Score ; NICE, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence; qSOFA, quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment; SIRS, systemic inflammatory response syndrome.