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Table 1 Baseline characteristics overall and stratified by low cortisol and high cortisol at admission

From: Association of admission cortisol levels with outcomes and treatment response in patients at nutritional risk

 

Overall

Low cortisol3

High cortisol4

p-value

n

764

573

191

 

Sociodemographics

    

Age years, mean (SD)

73 (13)

73 (13)

75 (12)

0.16

Male sex

413 (54%)

317 (55%)

96 (50%)

0.22

Nutritional assessment

    

BMI kg/m2, mean (SD)

25 (5)

25 (5)

25 (5)

0.68

Weight at admission kg, mean (SD)

71 (16)

72 (16)

72 (16)

0.84

Height cm, mean (SD)

168 (9)

168 (9)

167 (9)

0.3

NRS 2002 score (NRS 2002)

    

NRS 2002 score = 3

206 (27%)

169 (30%)

37 (19%)

0.021

NRS 2002 score = 4

300 (39%)

220 (38%)

80 (42%)

 

NRS 2002 score > 5

258 (34%)

184 (32%)

74 (39%)

 

Steroids intake

    

Oral steroids

101 (14%)

88 (16%)

13 (7%)

0.002

Inhaled steroids

211 (28%)

68 (12%)

17 (9%)

0.26

Admission diagnosis

    

Infection

211 (28%)

145 (25%)

66 (35%)

0.013

Cancer

181 (24%)

131 (23%)

50 (26%)

0.35

Cardiovascular disease

86 (11%)

68 (12%)

18 (9%)

0.35

Failure to thrive

54 (7%)

42 (7%)

12 (6%)

0.62

Lung disease

45 (6%)

41 (7%)

4 (2%)

0.01

Gastrointestinal disease

56 (7%)

44 (8%)

12 (6%)

0.52

Metabolic disease1

30 (4%)

21 (4%)

9 (5%)

0.52

Comorbidities

    

Hypertension

460 (60%)

347 (61%)

113 (59%)

0.73

Malignant disease

284 (37%)

209 (37%)

75 (39%)

0.49

Chronic kidney disease

280 (36%)

202 (35%)

78 (41%)

0.17

Coronary heart disease

181 (24%)

141 (25%)

40 (21%)

0.3

Diabetes mellitus2

178 (23%)

127 (22%)

51 (27%)

0.2

Congestive heart failure

139 (18%)

107 (19%)

32 (17%)

0.55

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

101 (13%)

84 (15%)

17 (9%)

0.042

Peripheral arterial disease

79 (10%)

61 (11%)

18 (9%)

0.63

Stroke

71 (9%)

51 (9%)

20 (10%)

0.52

Laboratory at admission

    

Cortisol nmol/l, mean (SD)

570 (293)

446 (182)

942 (245)

< 0.001

CRP mg/l, mean (SD)

77 (80)

66 (72)

111 (94)

< 0.001

Creatinine umol/l, mean (SD)

130 (138)

122 (119)

152 (180)

0.01

GFR ml/min, mean (SD)

35 (16)

36 (16)

33 (15)

0.066

Albumin g/l, mean (SD)

27 (6)

28 (6)

26 (5)

< 0.001

Phosphat mmol/l, mean (SD)

1.0 (0.4)

1.0 (0.3)

0.9 (0.4)

0.95

  1. The two-sample-t-test was used to compare the baseline characteristics between the intervention and the control group for the continuous variables and Pearson’s Chi-squared-test for binary and categorical variables. Data are expressed as number (%) unless otherwise indicated
  2. Abbrevations: SD, standard deviation; BMI, body mass index; NRS, nutrional risk score; kg, kilogram; CRP, C-reactive protein; GFR, glomerular filtration rate
  3. 1 Metabolic disease included, but was not limited to, ketoacidosis, hypo- and hyperglycemia and electrolyte disturbances
  4. including hypo- and hypernatriaemia, as well as hypo- and hyperkaliemia
  5. 2 Type 1 or type 2
  6. 3 Low cortisol = ≤ 723 nmol/l
  7. 4 High cortisol = > 723 nmol/l
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Nutrition Journal

ISSN: 1475-2891

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