Risk factors of sepsis among patients with qSOFA<2 in the emergency department

Abstract Objective Studies have suggested that qSOFA can be used for early detection of sepsis immediately upon arrival at the emergency department (ED). Despite this, little is known about the risk factors associated with the subsequent diagnosis of sepsis among patients with qSOFA Methods This is a retrospective cohort study using ED data from a large tertiary medical center in Japan, 2018–2020. We included adult patients (aged ≥18 years) presenting to the ED with suspected infection (e.g., having a fever) and qSOFA Results We identified 151 (7%) patients who developed sepsis among 2025 adult patients with suspected infection and qSOFA Conclusions We found that older age, vital signs prognosticating sepsis, and the presence of some comorbidities were the potential risk factors of sepsis in patients with qSOFA