Table 2

Results of neuropsychological testing (in standard values) for sepsis and ICU participants compared to historical norms (HN)

Neurocognitive test	Sepsis					ICU
				Sepsis versus HN					ICU versus HN		Sepsis versus ICU
	n	M	SE	t	p	n	M	SE	t	p	F	p
NeuroCogFX test battery
Digit span	25	95.88	1.709	−2.411	0.024	19	93.79	2.727	−2.277	0.035	1.817	0.193
2-back-test	25	93.84	2.258	−2.728	0.012	19	95.47	1.949	−2.323	0.032	0.020	0.889
Alertness (s)	25	93.48	1.585	−4.112	<0.000	19	95.68	2.355	−1.833	0.083	0.005	0.945
GoNogo (s)	25	94.44	2.280	−2.439	0.023	19	97.89	2.084	−1.010	0.326	0.507	0.485
Interference (s)	25	95.40	2.454	−1.874	0.073	19	91.11	2.219	−4.009	0.001	0.121	0.732
Verbal memory	25	94.32	2.437	−2.331	0.028	19	99.53	1.822	−0.260	0.798	0.188	0.669
Figural memory	25	98.08	1.788	−1.074	0.294	19	96.79	2.061	−1.558	0.137	2.184	0.155
Phon. VF	25	92.32	1.853	−4.145	<0.001	19	92.68	2.171	−3.370	0.003	0.651	0.429
TMT-A (s)	25	92.88	2.054	−3.467	0.002	19	94.32	2.006	−2.834	0.011	0.018	0.894
TMT-B (s)	25	91.20	1.691	−5.204	<0.001	19	89.32	2.093	−5.105	<0.001	0.004	0.951
Auditory verbal learning test*
Learning	14	92.36	3.059	−2.498	0.027	11	93.82	3.275	−1.888	0.088	0.052	0.823
Long delay	14	92.14	3.727	−2.108	0.055	11	89.82	4.114	−2.475	0.033	0.174	0.680
Memory Loss	14	89.43	3.263	−3.240	0.006	11	93.55	5.112	−1.263	0.235	0.890	0.356
Recognition	14	100.00	2.318	0.000	1.000	11	99.91	2.345	−0.039	0.970	0.076	0.786
Rey complex figure test*
Copy	14	104.86	1.600	3.036	0.010	11	110.09	2.722	3.707	0.004	0.510	0.483
Savings	14	101.07	2.804	0.382	0.709	11	103.55	2.372	1.495	0.166	0.061	0.808
Memory quotient	14	100.36	2.694	0.133	0.897	11	100.00	2.014	0.000	1.000	0.147	0.705

*AVLT and RCF were auxiliary tests administered to a subgroup of patients (n=14).
Comparison of means to historical norms by one sample two-tailed Student-t test; Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons (α=0.001). MANCOVA with duration of hospitalisation and APACHE II as covariates yielded no statistically significant differences in cognitive performance for the NeuroCogFX, TMT-A and TMT-B. However, there was a main effect of group for the auxiliary testing (AVLT and RCFT). Bold type indicates statistically significant differences.
APACHE, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation; AVLT, auditory verbal learning test; HN, historical norms; ICU, intensive care unit; MANCOVA, multivariate analysis of covariance; Phon.VF, phonetic verbal fluency; RCFT, Rey Complex Figure Test; SE, septic encephalopathy; TMT, trail making test.