The Effects of Abnormal Body Temperature on the Prognosis of Patients with Septic Shock

Abstract

We aimed to use temperature and the area under temperature curve to represent the severity of abnormal body temperature of patients with septic shock and to observe their impact on the prognosis. Five hundred twenty-eight adult patients with septic shock admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) were analyzed. Within the first 24 hours and throughout the period in ICU, the maximum temperature (24hT_max, T_max), lowest temperature (24hT_min, T_min), and the temperature range (24hT_max-min, T_max-min) were aggregated. Patients were divided into the survival group and the death group. Binary logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between body temperature aberrations and survival. The following risk factors of death in 21 days were identified: T_max (odds ratio [OR] 2.967, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.626-5.414, p < 0.001), T_min (OR 0.337, 95% CI 0.143-0.794, p = 0.013), and T_max-min (OR 3.259, 95% CI 1.847-5.749, p < 0.001). This is an observational study, so one can infer association but not causation. Therefore, we infer that abnormal body temperature is associated with an adverse prognosis in patients with septic shock.

Keywords: area under curve; body temperature; fever; hypothermia; prognosis; septic shock.