Table 2

Performance of the surveillance algorithm using different definitions of suspected infection

Definition of suspected infectionEntire hospital cohort (n=82 653)Suspected infection validation cohort (n=674)
Sensitivity (95% CI)Specificity (95% CI)PPV
(95% CI)		NPV
(95% CI)		Sensitivity (95% CI)Specificity (95% CI)PPV
(95% CI)		NPV
(95% CI)
Any culture and two doses of antimicrobials (equivalent to Sepsis-3 clinical criteria)0.887 (0.799 to 0.964)0.985 (0.978 to 0.991)0.881 (0.833 to 0.926)0.986 (0.973 to 0.996)0.926 (0.896 to 0.955)0.893 (0.859 to 0.923)0.881 (0.833 to 0.926)0.934 (0.895 to 0.969)
Any culture and 4 days of antimicrobials0.853 (0.761 to 0.935)0.988 (0.981 to 0.993)0.899 (0.848 to 0.945)0.981 (0.968 to 0.992)0.891 (0.855 to 0.925)0.915 (0.885 to 0.942)0.899 (0.848 to 0.945)0.907 (0.866 to 0.945)
Blood culture and two doses of antimicrobials0.739 (0.639 to 0.832)0.990 (0.985 to 0.995)0.906 (0.853 to 0.952)0.967 (0.952 to 0.980)0.772 (0.724 to 0.818)0.931 (0.904 to 0.956)0.906 (0.853 to 0.952)0.826 (0.781 to 0.871)
Blood cultures and 4 days of antimicrobials (equivalent to Adult Sepsis Event definition)0.718 (0.615 to 0.813)0.992 (0.986 to 0.996)0.917 (0.862 to 0.962)0.965 (0.949 to 0.978)0.749 (0.699 to 0.796)0.942 (0.917 to 0.964)0.917 (0.862 to 0.962)0.814 (0.769 to 0.859)

  • NPV, negative predictive value; PPV, positive predictive value.