Total blood culture episodes eligible for screening | 1341 | 1431 |
Number (%) eligible episodes screened | 999 (74) | 1354 (95) |
Number (%) screened episodes meeting study criteria | 291 (29) | 346 (26) |
Number (%) not included for each reason: (can be >1 reason per episode) |
Notes unavailable | 22 (2) | 17 (1) |
Insufficient documentation | 17 (2) | 15 (1) |
No suspected or proven infection | 297 (42) | 368 (37) |
Not SIRS (ie, <2 SIRS criteria) (%) | 164 (23) | 183 (18) |
Sepsis but not inpatient onset | 270 (38) | 379 (38) |
Transplant/chemotherapy | 3 (0.4) | 10 (1) |
Not for any active treatment documented | – | 7 (1) |
Demographics study patients: |
Mean age (95% CI) | 67.7 (65.9 to 69.5) | 68.3 (66.3 to 70.2) |
Male gender (%) | 169 (58) | 164 (53) |
Mean Charlson Index of comorbidity (95% CI) | 1.9 (1.7 to 2.2) | 2.0 (1.8 to 2.2) |
Type of admission (%): |
Emergency medical | 137 (47) | 158 (51) |
Emergency surgical | 89 (31) | 96 (31) |
Elective medical | 5 (2) | 2 (1) |
Elective surgical | 60 (21) | 54 (17) |
Clinical features of septic episodes: |
Days from admission to sepsis onset: |
Mean (95% CI) | 13.0 (10.5 to 14.8) | 15.0 (11.6 to 18.3) |
Median (IQR) | 7 (3–14) | 7 (3–15) |
Ward type at onset (%): |
Medical | 140 (48) | 155 (45) |
Surgical | 120 (41) | 148 (43) |
Orthopaedic | 31 (11) | 43 (12) |
Site of infection (%): |
Respiratory tract | 129 (44) | 152 (44) |
Urinary tract | 72 (25) | 74 (21) |
Intra-abdominal | 70 (24) | 55 (16) |
Skin or soft tissue | 34 (12) | 44 (13) |
Vascular catheter | 28 (10) | 17 (5) |
Other | 2 (1) | 5 (1) |
Unknown | 15 (5) | 43 (12) |
More than one site | 54 (19) | 43 (12) |
Standardised early warning system score (%): |
0–1 | 34 (12) | 60 (17) |
2–3 | 102 (35) | 138 (40) |
4–5 | 86 (30) | 96 (28) |
≥6 | 69 (24) | 50 (15) |
Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria met (%): |
2 | 99 (34) | 124 (36) |
3 | 125 (43) | 152 (44) |
4 | 67 (23) | 68 (20) |