ArticleCritical care (London, England)2024
Sex differences in the SOFA score of ICU patients with sepsis or septic shock: a nationwide analysis.
Article in Critical care (London, England), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed.
- Sex-Related Differences in Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes Among Patients Clinically Managed for Suspected Bacterial Infection in the Emergency Department.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Observational
- Experimental robustness and reproducibility of the murine cecal ligation and puncture sepsis model.Intensive care medicine experimental · 2026Article
- Timing matters: sex differences in treatment limitation decisions in intensive care.Critical care (London, England) · 2026Article
- Age- and Sex-Related Outcomes in Patients with Sepsis or Septic Shock: A Prospective Monocentric Cohort Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Sex and age differences of inflammatory biomarkers around a bloodstream infection: a population-based cohort study.Infection · 2026Article
- Age-related sex differences in intensive care treatment and outcomes: a nationwide cohort study.British journal of anaesthesia · 2026Article
- Evaluation of SOFA-2 Score Performance Across Demographic Subgroups: An External Validation Study Using MIMIC-IV.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Testosterone and androgen receptor pathway modulation in sepsis: immunometabolic mechanisms and therapeutic implications - a scoping review.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Article
- Nationwide trends and disparities in deaths following cardiogenic shock and sepsis in the United States (1999-2023): insights from the CDC WONDER database.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2025Article
- Viral sepsis - pathophysiology and disease manifestation.Infection · 2025Review
- SEX DIFFERENCES IN SEPSIS-RELATED ACUTE RESPIRATORY DISTRESS SYNDROME AND OTHER SHORT-TERM OUTCOMES AMONG CRITICALLY ILL PATIENTS WITH SEPSIS: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY IN CHINA.Shock (Augusta, Ga.) · 2025Observational
- Impact of early infectious diseases consultation on the management of central line-associated bloodstream infection: a propensity score weighting retrospective cohort study.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Sex disparities in ICU care and outcomes after cardiac arrest: a Swiss nationwide analysis.Critical care (London, England) · 2025Article
- Article
- Sex matters: Is it time for a SOFA makeover?Critical care (London, England) · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
15 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score is an important tool in diagnosing sepsis and quantifying organ dysfunction. However, despite emerging evidence of differences in sepsis pathophysiology between women and men, sex is currently not being considered in the SOFA score. We aimed to investigate potential sex-specific differences in organ dysfunction, as measured by the SOFA score, in patients with sepsis or septic shock and explore outcome associations.
methodsRetrospective analysis of sex-specific differences in the SOFA score of prospectively enrolled ICU patients with sepsis or septic shock admitted to one of 85 certified Swiss ICUs between 01/2021 and 12/2022.
resultsOf 125,782 patients, 5947 (5%) were admitted with a clinical diagnosis of sepsis (2244, 38%) or septic shock (3703, 62%). Of these, 5078 (37% women) were eligible for analysis. A statistically significant difference of the total SOFA score on admission was found between women (mean 7.5 ± SD 3.6 points) and men (7.8 ± 3.6 points, Wilcoxon rank-sum p < 0.001). This was driven by differences in the coagulation (p = 0.008), liver (p < 0.001) and renal (p < 0.001) SOFA components. Differences between sexes were more prominent in younger patients < 52 years of age (women 7.1 ± 4.0 points vs men 8.1 ± 4.2 points, p = 0.004). No sex-specific differences were found in ICU length of stay (women median 2.6 days (IQR 1.3-5.3) vs men 2.7 days (IQR 1.2-6.0), p = 0.13) and ICU mortality (women 14% vs men 15%, p = 0.17).
conclusionSex-specific differences exist in the SOFA score of patients admitted to a Swiss ICU with sepsis or septic shock, particularly in laboratory-based components. Although the clinical meaningfulness of these differences is unclear, a reevaluation of sex-specific thresholds for SOFA score components is warranted in an attempt to make more accurate and individualised classifications.
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