Aim: Hypothermia is associated with poor prognosis in patients with sepsis. However, no studies have explored the correlation between the severity of hypothermia and prognosis.
Methods: Using data from the Japanese accidental hypothermia network registry (J-Point registry), we examined adult patients aged ≥18 years with infectious diseases whose initial body temperature was ≤35°C from April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2016, in 12 centers. Patients were divided into three groups according to their body temperature: Tertile 1 (T1) (32.0-35.0°C), Tertile 2 (T2) (28.0-31.9°C), and Tertile 3 (T3) (<28.0°C). In-hospital mortality was employed as a metric to assess outcomes. We conducted a multivariate logistic regression analysis to investigate the relationship between the three categories and the occurrence of in-hospital mortality.
Results: A total of 572 patients were registered, and 170 eligible patients were identified. Of these patients, 55 were in T1 (32.0-35.0°C), 76 in T2 (28.0-31.9°C), and 39 in T3 (<28.0°C) groups. The overall in-hospital mortality rate in accidental hypothermia (AH) patients with infectious diseases was 34.1%. The in-hospital mortality rates in the T1, T2, and T3 groups were 34.5%, 36.8%, and 28.2%, respectively. The multivariable analysis demonstrated no significant differences regarding in-hospital mortality among the three groups (T2 vs. T1, adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 1.29; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.58-2.89 and T3 vs. T1, adjusted OR: 0.83; 95% CI: 0.30-2.31).
Conclusion: In this multicenter retrospective observational study, hypothermia severity was not associated with in-hospital mortality in AH patients with infectious diseases.
Keywords: accidental hypothermia; emergency department; environmental medicine; infection; mortality.
© 2024 The Author(s). Acute Medicine & Surgery published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japanese Association for Acute Medicine.