Prognostic value of uric acid combined with red cell distribution width for short-term outcomes in patients with sepsis

Abstract

Objective To investigate the prognostic significance of uric acid combined with red cell distribution width (RDW) for short-term outcomes in patients with sepsis. Methods According to the levels of uric acid and RDW, 216 patients with sepsis were divided into 4 groups: group A (uric acid ≤ 258 μmol/L and RDW ≤ 14.1%, 50 cases), group B (uric acid ≤ 258 μmol/L and RDW>14.1%, 58 cases), group C (uric acid>258 μmol/L and RDW ≤ 14.1%, 58 cases) and group D (uric acid>258 μmol/L and RDW>14.1%, 50 cases). The in-hospital and 30-day mortality rates, and the levels of uric acid and RDW were compared among the 4 groups. Meanwhile, the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to estimate the 30-day survival in each group. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to describe the predictive value of uric acid, RDW and their combined indices for in-hospital and 30-day mortality rates. Results The in-hospital and 30-day mortality rates, and the levels of uric acid and RDW were significantly different among the 4 groups (F= 16.211, 19.206, 132.755, 59.771; all P 0.008), and the uric acid level (P>0.05) all showed no significant differences between the group C and group D. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the curves of 4 groups were statistically significantly different (χ2= 14.102, P= 0.003), and the curves of group C and group D were much lower than that of group A (both P<0.008). The ROC curve indicated that uric acid combined with RDW was much better than uric acid (Z= 2.043, P= 0.041; Z= 2.012, P= 0.044) and RDW (Z= 2.245, P= 0.025; Z= 2.322, P= 0.020) alone in the predictive value for in-hospital and 30-day mortality rates in patients with sepsis. Conclusion Uric acid combined with RDW can better predict short-term clinical outcomes in patients with sepsis. Key words: Uric acid; Sepsis; Red cell distribution width