- Most of the patients presenting to the ED who developed sepsis within 12 h of ED admission (Sepsis-2) met 0–1 qSOFA parameters at the time of initial ED evaluation. Abnormal MDW predicted higher probability of sepsis compared to qSOFA criteria alone (unknown MDW) or when MDW was normal. Overall, abnormal MDW at the time of initial ED presentation was associated with 3.9-fold higher odds of sepsis compared to normal MDW. For this analysis, the pre-test probability for sepsis in the ED was estimated at 8%