C-reactive Protein to Albumin Ratio among Patients Admitted to Intensive Care Unit of a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Descriptive Cross- sectional Study

Introduction: Sepsis is the most common cause of mortality among patients admitted to intensive care unit. There is emerging evidence on the role of C-reactive protein to albumin ratio (C-reactive protein/Albumin) in predicting outcomes in patients with critical illness and sepsis, admitted to intensive care unit. We aimed to find out the median value of C-reactive protein/Albumin ratio among patients admitted to intensive care unit of a tertiary care hospital. Methods: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study of 110 critically ill patients (>18 years old) admitted to intensive care unit of Dhulikhel Hospital from April, 2014 to June, 2016. The ethical approval (Reference number.51/16) was obtained from Institutional Review Committee at Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences. C-reactive protein/albumin ratio was calculated from records of patients admitted to the intensive care unit. Convenience sampling was done. Data were entered into Microsoft Excel and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequencies and percentages for binary data. Results: Among 110 patients admitted to the intensive care unit, the median value of C-reactive protein/Albumin ratio was found to be 2.5 (Interquartile range: 0.6-4.1). Out of these patients, 44 (39.5%) patients were septic and their median C-reactive protein/albumin ratio was 3.4 (Interquartile range: 3.1-4.5). Conclusions: Our study showed higher median C-reactive protein/Albumin when compared to other similar studies. Monitoring of C-reactive protein/albumin level in a patient admitted to intensive care unit could be useful for stratifying patients with a high risk of developing sepsis.