Prognostic significance of body temperature in the emergency department vs the ICU in Patients with severe sepsis or septic shock: A nationwide cohort study

Increased body temperature in the Emergency Department (BT-ED) and the ICU (BT-ICU) is associated with lower mortality in patients with sepsis. Here, we compared how well BT-ED and BT-ICU predict mortality; investigated mortality in various combinations of BT-ED and BT-ICU, and; compared degree of fever in the ED and ICU and associated quality of care. 2385 adults who were admitted to an ICU within 24 hours of ED arrival with severe sepsis or septic shock were included. Thirty-day mortality was 23.6%. Median BT-ED and BT-ICU was 38.1 and 37.6°C. Crude mortality decreased more than 5% points per°C increase for both BT-ED and BT-ICU. Adjusted OR for mortality was 0.82/°C increase for BT-ED (0.76-0.88, p < 0.001), and 0.89 for BT-ICU (0.83-0.95, p