Predicting survival in sepsis: The prognostic value of NLR and BAR ratios

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Due to the high-risk nature of sepsis, emergency departments urgently need a simple evaluation method to assess the degree of inflammation and prognosis in sepsis patients, providing a reference for diagnosis and treatment.

OBJECTIVE:

To investigate the prognostic value of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) combined with the blood urea nitrogen-to-serum albumin ratio (BAR) in sepsis.

METHODS:

A total of 377 sepsis patients admitted to Lishui People’s Hospital from June 2022 to June 2023 were selected as the study subjects. Based on their prognosis, they were divided into a survival group (255 cases) and a death group (82 cases). The clinical data of the two groups were compared. Multivariate logistic analysis was used to identify factors influencing sepsis prognosis, and ROC curve analysis was used to assess the predictive efficacy of NLR, BAR, and their combination.

RESULTS:

Compared with survivors, non-survivors had higher NLR and BAR, with statistically significant differences ( $p<$ 0.05). After adjusting for confounding factors, NLR (OR $=$ 1.052) and BAR (OR $=$ 1.095) were found to be independent prognostic factors for sepsis patients (both $p<$ 0.05). The AUC of NLR combined with BAR was 0.798 (95% CI 0.745–0.850, $p<$ 0.05), higher than the AUC of NLR alone (0.776) and BAR alone (0.701).

CONCLUSIONS:

The combination of NLR and BAR has a high predictive value for the prognosis of sepsis patients. Its simple calculation makes it particularly suitable for use in emergency departments.