Effects of nutritional status in patients of systemic inflammatory response syndrome on its prognosis

Objective To investigate influence of nutritional status on prognosis in patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS). Methods Retrospective analysis for clinical data of 533 patients who hospitalized at the Internal Medicine Department of Beijing Social Welfare Hospital and the Emergency Department of Chaoyang Hospital, Beijing during 2005 to 2010 were performed. All the patients were divided into SIRS (323 cases) and non-SIRS (210 cases) groups based on diagnostic criteria of SIRS and pyemia, and groups of the survival (431 cases) and the dead ( 102 cases) based on their end outcomes.Patients of SIRS were further divided into sub-groups of pyemia (287 cases) and non-pyemia (36 cases)based on their infection status. The Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation Ⅱ ( APACHE Ⅱ ),serum levels of prealbumin ( PAB), albumin ( ALB), total cholesterol (CHOL) and C-creative protein (CRP) were measured for all the patients on the 1st, 3rd, 7th days after admission, before discharge and prior to death, respectively. Results Scores of APACHE Ⅱ were significantly higher in SIRS and the dead groups than those in non-SIRS and the survival groups (P ＜0. 05 ). Serum level of albumin was significantly lower in SIRS and the dead groups than that in non-SIRS and the survival groups on the 7th day after admission (SIRS vs. non-SIRS: F=9.812, P=0.035; the dead vs. the survival: F =45.285, P=0. 003). Change in serum level of prealbumin was the same as the level of albumin, with significant difference between various groups since the 3rd day after admission ( P ＜ 0. 05 ). Significant time effects could be found in the dead and survival groups (for the dead group: F = 19. 188, P = 0. 000; and for the survival group: F = 47. 250, P ＜ 0. 01 ). Multiple regression analysis showed that serum levels of prealbumin and total cholesterol correlated with scores of APACHE Ⅱ[with a regression formula of scores of APACHE Ⅱ = 52.032-21.407 PAB-8.971 CHOL (R2 =0.801, F=48.016, P =0.023)]. Logistic regression analysis showed that low level of prealbumin and high scores of APACHE Ⅱ both were predictors for survival of SIRS patients, with an overall accuracy of 77. 1 percent, 73.5 percent for survival and 79. 5 percent for death prediction. Conclusions Severe malnutrition can be found in patients with SIRS and serum level of prealbumin can be used to evaluate their nutritional status and severity of the disease. High scores of APACHE Ⅱ combined with low serum level of prealbumin can predict prognosis of the patients. Key words: Sepsis;  Systemic inflammatory response syndrome;  Prognosis