Table 3 Association between plasma procalcitonin level at admission and all-cause in-hospital mortality in multivariable Cox proportional-hazards regression

Model #1: Plasma PCT, ROC-defined threshold

0.688 (0.643–0.730)

 Procalcitonin > 4.24 ng/mL

2.01

1.30–3.11

0.002

–

 Age (years)

1.01

1.00–1.02

0.02

–

 Pathogen genus, Streptococcus

0.50

0.21–1.18

0.12

–

 Pathogen genus, Staphylococcus

1.13

0.70–1.83

0.62

–

 Pathogen genus, Klebsiella

1.57

0.79–3.13

0.20

–

Model #2: Plasma PCT quartiles

0.708 (0.664–0.750)

 Procalcitonin, quartiles

1.31

1.07–1.60

0.008

–

 Age (years)

1.01

1.00–1.02

0.02

–

 Pathogen genus, Streptococcus

0.51

0.22–1.22

0.13

–

 Pathogen genus, Staphylococcus

1.11

0.69–1.80

0.66

–

 Pathogen genus, Klebsiella

1.61

0.81–3.21

0.18

–

Model #3: Plasma PCT, 4th vs. 1st to 3rd quartiles

0.699 (0.655–0.741)

 Procalcitonin, 4th quartile

1.62

1.05–2.50

0.03

–

 Age (years)

1.01

1.00–1.02

0.01

–

 Pathogen genus, Streptococcus

0.49

0.21–1.16

0.10

–

 Pathogen genus, Staphylococcus

1.13

0.70–1.83

0.61

–

 Pathogen genus, Klebsiella

1.71

0.86–3.41

0.13

–

Model #4: Plasma PCT, 4th vs. 1st quartile

0.716 (0.652–0.774)

 Procalcitonin, 4th quartile

2.44

1.21–4.94

0.01

–

 Age (years)

1.01

0.99–1.02

0.31

–

 Pathogen genus, Streptococcus

0.50

0.15–1.70

0.27

–

 Pathogen genus, Staphylococcus

0.98

0.50–1.93

0.95

–

 Pathogen genus, Klebsiella

1.51

0.52–4.39

0.45

–