Causal impact of malnutrition on mortality among adults hospitalized for medical illness in sub-Saharan Africa: what is the role of severe sepsis?

Table 2 Unadjusted associations between selected risk factors and mortality among 318 adults being hospitalized for any medical illness at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital in Uganda in April to June 2011

Variable	Odds ratio	95 % CI	P value
Malnutrition^a	2.4	1.4, 4.0	0.001
MEWS
6 to 11	2.6	1.5, 4.6	0.001
4 to 5	1.4	0.80, 2.6	0.225
0 to 3	Reference
Severe sepsis	2.5	1.5, 4.1	0.001
Hypoglycemia^b	1.9	0.97, 3.6	0.061
Confirmed TB	1.8	0.55, 5.6	0.339
Male sex	1.8	1.1, 2.8	0.017
Sepsis	1.4	0.91, 2.3	0.122
HIV infection	1.2	0.79, 2.0	0.348
Anemia^c	0.87	0.53, 1.4	0.594
Education status
None	0.68	0.35, 1.3	0.265
Primary	0.72	0.39, 1.4	0.306
Secondary or more	Reference
Age^d	1.02	0.90, 1.2	0.749

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