ALB and pneumonia: Association between NLR (both continuous and categorical) and death was found to be consistent across all diseases and lab abnormalities, but, interestingly, predictive accuracy was found to be higher and slightly more pronounced in patients without high-risk acute conditions (e.g. sepsis, pneumonia, and congestive heart failure), and among those with more preserved kidney function, normal albumin levels and normal hemoglobin (Additional file 4).