Table 3 Prognostic value of admission serum cortisol levels on mortality rates and other secondary clinical and nutritional outcomes

30-day mortalitiy

Low cortisol³

reference

reference

High cortisol⁴

< 0.001

2.31 (1.47 to 3.62)

< 0.001

1.89 (1.18 to 3.02)

0.008

Secondary long-term outcomes

180-day mortality

Low cortisol³

reference

reference

High cortisol⁴

< 0.001

1.83 (1.38 to 2.43)

< 0.001

1.68 (1.26 to 2.25)

< 0.001

5-year mortality

Low cortisol³

reference

reference

High cortisol⁴

0.001

1.51 (1.23 to 1.87)

< 0.001

1.45 (1.17 to 1.8)

0.001

Secondary short-term outcomes (30 days)

p-value

OR (95% CI)

p-value

OR (95% CI)

p-value

Adverse clinical outcomes

Low cortisol³

reference

reference

High cortisol⁴

0.031

1.54 (1.06 to 2.23)

0.023

1.45 (0.99 to 2.13)

0.056

Loss of function¹

Low cortisol³

reference

reference

High cortisol⁴

0.104

1.46 (0.93 to 2.3)

0.104

1.29 (0.81 to 2.08)

0.286

p-value

Coefficient (95% CI)

p-value

Coefficient (95% CI)

p-value

Length of hospital stay

Low cortisol³

reference

reference

High cortisol⁴

< 0.001

2 (1 to 3)

< 0.001

2 (1 to 3)

0.001

Mean protein intake per day, g/d²

Low cortisol³

reference

reference

High cortisol⁴

0.005

-5 (-9 to -1)

0.011

-4 (-8 to 0)

0.044

Mean caloric intake per day, kcal/d²

Low cortisol³

reference

reference

High cortisol⁴

0.005

-126 (-229 to -23)

0.017

-91 (-196 to 14)

0.09

Change in handgrip strength (HGS), kg

Low cortisol³

reference

reference

High cortisol⁴

0.032

1 (0 to 3)

0.081

1 (0 to 3)

0.107