ArticleChest2017
Effect of Procalcitonin Testing on Health-care Utilization and Costs in Critically Ill Patients in the United States.
Article in Chest, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 69 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Procalcitonin to initiate or discontinue antibiotics in acute respiratory tract infections.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- Quantifying the Relationship Between Renal Function and Procalcitonin: A Study of 14 431 Blood Cultures.Open forum infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Biomarkers in pulmonary infections: a clinical approach.Annals of intensive care · 2024Review
- When to Stop Antibiotics in the Critically Ill?Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Pancreatic stone protein point-of-care testing can reduce healthcare expenditure in sepsis.Health economics review · 2022Article
- Antimicrobial Stewardship Using Biomarkers: Accumulating Evidence for the Critically Ill.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Impact of a Procalcitonin-Based Protocol on Antibiotic Exposure and Costs in Critically Ill Patients.Critical care explorations · 2021Article
- Cost impact of procalcitonin-guided decision making on duration of antibiotic therapy for suspected early-onset sepsis in neonates.Critical care (London, England) · 2021Article
- Clinical outcomes and costs associated with procalcitonin utilization in hospitalized patients with pneumonia, heart failure, viral respiratory infection, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.Internal and emergency medicine · 2021Observational
- Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of a Procalcitonin-Guided Decision Algorithm for Antibiotic Stewardship Using Real-World U.S. Hospital Data.Omics : a journal of integrative biology · 2019Article
- Disseminated Invasive Candidiasis in an Immunocompetent Host.Federal practitioner : for the health care professionals of the VA, DoD, and PHS · 2019Article
- Article
- Implementation of the Procalcitonin Assay in a Rural Hospital.Hospital pharmacy · 2018Article
- Procalcitonin kinetics after burn injury and burn surgery in septic and non-septic patients - a retrospective observational study.BMC anesthesiology · 2018Observational
- Observational
- Checking procalcitonin suitability for prognosis and antimicrobial therapy monitoring in burn patients.Burns & trauma · 2018Article
- Reply to Schuetz and Wahl.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2017Article
- Procalcitonin Test Availability: A Survey of Acute Care Hospitals in Massachusetts.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2017Article
- Response.Chest · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThere is a growing use of procalcitonin (PCT) to facilitate the diagnosis and management of severe sepsis. We investigated the impact of one to two PCT determinations on ICU day 1 on health-care utilization and cost in a large research database.
methodsA retrospective, propensity score-matched multivariable analysis was performed on the Premier Healthcare Database for patients admitted to the ICU with one to two PCT evaluations on day 1 of ICU admission vs patients who did not have PCT testing.
resultsA total of 33,569 PCT-managed patients were compared with 98,543 propensity score-matched non-PCT patients. In multivariable regression analysis, PCT utilization was associated with significantly decreased total length of stay (11.6 days [95% CI, 11.4 to 11.7] vs 12.7 days [95% CI, 12.6 to 12.8]; 95% CI for difference, 1 to 1.3; P < .001) and ICU length of stay (5.1 days [95% CI, 5.1 to 5.2] vs 5.3 days [95% CI, 5.3 to 5.4]; 95% CI for difference, 0.1 to 0.3; P < .03), and lower hospital costs ($30,454 [95% CI, 29,968 to 31,033] vs $33,213 [95% CI, 32,964 to 33,556); 95% CI for difference, 2,159 to 3,321; P < .001). There was significantly less total antibiotic exposure (16.2 days [95% CI, 16.1 to 16.5] vs 16.9 days [95% CI, 16.8 to 17.1]; 95% CI for difference, -0.9 to 0.4; P = .006) in PCT-managed patients. Patients in the PCT group were more likely to be discharged to home (44.1% [95% CI, 43.7 to 44.6] vs 41.3% [95% CI, 41 to 41.6]; 95% CI for difference, 2.3 to 3.3; P = .006). Mortality was not different in an analysis including the 96% of patients who had an independent measure of mortality risk available (19.1% [95% CI, 18.7 to 19.4] vs 19.1% [95% CI, 18.9 to 19.3]; 95% CI for difference, -0.5 to 0.4; P = .93).
conclusionsUse of PCT testing on the first day of ICU admission was associated with significantly lower hospital and ICU lengths of stay, as well as decreased total, ICU, and pharmacy cost of care. Further elucidation of clinical outcomes requires additional data.
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Registered trials
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