| Clinical characteristics | Plateau pressure cmH2O | p-value# | |
| ≥30 | <30 | ||
| Patients n (%) | 390 (22.4) | 1348 (77.6) | |
| Mortality | 55.1 | 46.4 | 0.002 |
| Patient location at sepsis diagnosis | |||
| Emergency department | 30.3 | 40.4 | <0.001 |
| Ward | 36.4 | 37.4 | |
| ICU | 33.3 | 22.3 | |
| Source of infection | |||
| Pneumonia | 68.7 | 66.1 | 0.334 |
| Abdominal | 20.0 | 21.7 | 0.461 |
| UTI | 8.0 | 8.9 | 0.556 |
| Skin | 3.9 | 3.0 | 0.428 |
| Bone | 0.3 | 1.0 | 0.141 |
| Wound | 2.8 | 2.2 | 0.495 |
| Catheter | 3.9 | 2.5 | 0.138 |
| Meningitis | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.495 |
| Endocarditis | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.684 |
| Device | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.489 |
| Other infection | 5.4 | 6.5 | 0.441 |
| Lactate variables | |||
| Obtained on admission | 76.7 | 76.3 | 0.892 |
| Elevated | 22.1 | 22.0 | 0.994 |
| Lactate mmol·L−1 | 2.6 (1.3–4.4) | 2.6 (1.5–4.5) | 0.475¶ |
| Lactate >2 mmol·L−1 in <6 h | 36.2 | 39.7 | 0.207 |
| Lactate >4 mmol·L−1 in <6 h | 18.0 | 18.8 | 0.714 |
| Shock attributable to lactate only | 1.3 | 1.8 | 0.499 |
| Lactate >2 mmol·L−1 at any time | 44.4 | 46.7 | 0.422 |
| Lactate >4 mmol·L−1 at any time | 20.5 | 21.4 | 0.717 |
| Baseline acute organ dysfunction | |||
| Cardiovascular | 87.4 | 87.2 | 0.919 |
| Pulmonary | 100.00 | 100.00 | |
| Renal | 49.5 | 51.8 | 0.425 |
| Hepatic | 15.9 | 16.7 | 0.710 |
| Haematological | 39.2 | 37.0 | 0.427 |
Data are presented as % or median (interquartile range), unless otherwise stated. ICU: intensive care unit; UTI: urinary tract infection. #: Pearson’s Chi-squared test; ¶: Wilcoxon rank-sum test.