The relationship between first-dose antibiotic delay intervals and in-hospital mortality on patients with sepsis

Background: To investigate the association between the time interval of antibiotic use and patient in-hospital mortality on sepsis patients, we quantified the time interval of first antibiotic administration in sepsis patients, namely diagnosis delay and administration delay, and explored the relationship between these delay times and patient prognosis. Methods: A retrospective study of 452 patients with sepsis attending the emergency department from January 2020 to December 2022 was conducted to quantify the time interval of first antibiotic use, and use the Logistic analysis to evaluatethe the affect on prognosis and antibiotic use interval in these patients. Results: Both delay in diagnosis and delay in administration of antibiotics were associated with in-hospital mortality, but there was no significant difference in diagnostic delay for less than 6 hours or administration delay for less than 3 hours when compared with the paired control group without delay. Conclusions: Antibiotic delay in sepsis is associated with patient outcomes, but only for longer delays.There was no significant difference in in-hospital mortality between antibiotics use within 1 hour and 3 hours.