Prompt admission to intensive care is associated with improved survival in patients with severe sepsis and/or septic shock

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between time from hospital admission to intensive care unit (ICU) admission (door to ICU time) and hospital mortality in patients with sepsis. METHODS: This retrospective observational study included routinely collected healthcare data from patients with sepsis. The primary endpoint was hospital mortality, defined as the survival status at hospital discharge. Door to ICU time was calculated and included in a multivariable model to investigate its association with mortality. RESULTS: Data from 13 115 patients were included for analyses, comprising 10 309 survivors and 2 806 non-survivors. Door to ICU time was significantly longer for non-survivors than survivors (median, 43.0 h [interquartile range, 12.4, 91.3] versus 26.7 h [7.0, 74.2]). In the multivariable regression model, door to ICU time remained significantly associated with mortality (odds ratio [OR] 1.11, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.006, 1.017) and there was a significant interaction between age and door to ICU time (OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.99, 1.00). CONCLUSION: A shorter time from hospital door to ICU admission was shown to be independently associated with reduced hospital mortality in patients with severe sepsis and/or septic shock.