Increased mortality in elderly patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome is not explained by host response

Intensive Care Medicine Experimental

Table 4 Association between age and endothelial activation marker levels in ARDS patients (mediation step 3)

	Coefficient [95% CI]	p value	Coefficient [95% CI]^*	p value	Adjusted R²
Fractalkine
Young adults	Reference	NA	Reference	NA	0.193
Middle-aged adults	− 0.26 [− 0.49, − 0.04]	0.021	− 0.17 [− 0.38, 0.03]	0.103
Elderly	− 0.46 [− 0.69, − 0.23]	< 0.001	− 0.26 [− 0.48, − 0.05]	0.018
E-selectin
Young adults	Reference	NA	Reference	NA	0.048
Middle-aged adults	− 0.31 [− 0.53, − 0.10]	0.005	− 0.27 [− 0.48, − 0.04]	0.013
Elderly	− 0.24 [− 0.46, − 0.02]	0.032	− 0.21 [− 0.44, 0.02]	0.064
P-selectin
Young adults	Reference	NA	Reference	NA	0.047
Middle-aged adults	− 0.14 [− 0.36, 0.08]	0.214	− 0.09 [− 0.30, 0.13]	0.510
Elderly	0.03 [− 0.20, 0.25]	0.818	0.05 [− 0.18, 0.27]	0.661
ICAM-1
Young adults	Reference	NA	Reference	NA	0.073
Middle-aged adults	− 0.11 [− 0.26, 0.04]	0.168	− 0.05 [− 0.20, 0.10]	0.547
Elderly	− 0.22 [− 0.37, − 0.07]	0.005	− 0.14 [− 0.29, 0.02]	0.073
Ang2:Ang1
Young adults	Reference	NA	Reference	NA	0.046
Middle-aged adults	− 0.28 [− 0.73, 0.18]	0.232	− 0.29 [− 0.75, 0.15]	0.208
Elderly	− 0.22 [− 0.68, 0.25]	0.359	− 0.19 [− 0.67, 0.28]	0.441

Data is presented as beta-coefficient (β) with a 95% confidence interval [CI]. All biomarkers are log-transformed. ^*Adjusted for ethnic background, gender, admission type, readmission, direct hit for ARDS, Charlson Comorbidity Index, APACHE-IV score adjusted for age, immunodeficiency, tidal volume per predicted body weight, and positive end-expiratory pressure. A p value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. ICAM-1 intracellular adhesion molecule-1, ANG-2:ANG1 angiopoetin-2:angiopoetin-1. Goodness of fit, adjusted R². NA not applicable