Treatment of patients with sepsis in a closed intensive care unit is associated with improved survival: a nationwide observational study in Japan

Abstract Background The aim of this study is to investigate the association between treatment in a closed ICU and survival at discharge in patients with sepsis. Methods This is a post hoc analysis utilizing data from the Japan Septic Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation study, including data from patients with sepsis from 2011 to 2013. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the association between ICU policy and survival at discharge, and propensity score matching analysis was performed including the same covariates as a sensitivity analysis. Multiple linear regression analysis for the length of ICU stay in surviving patients was also performed with adjustments for the same covariates. Results Two thousand four hundred ninety-five patients were analyzed. The median Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score was 22 [17–29], the median Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score was 9 [7–12], and the overall mortality was 33%. There were 979 patients treated in 17 open ICUs and 1516 patients in 18 closed ICUs. In comparison, the APACHE II score and SOFA scores were significantly higher in patients in closed ICUs (closed vs open = 23 [18–29] vs 21 [16–28]; p