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. 2023 Sep 9;52(2):413–427. doi: 10.1007/s15010-023-02091-y

Table 2.

Accuracy of identification of cases with infection or sepsis by explicit ICD-10-codes

Explicit coding of infection or sepsis Reference standard from chart review Predictive accuracy of explicit coding of infection or sepsis
Proportion of hospital admissions Hospital mortality N missing Proportion of hospital admissions Hospital mortality Sensitivity Specificity PPV NPV
All cases
 Infection 23.7% [22%; 25.4%] 6% [4.5%; 8.1%] 0/10,384 20.6% [18.3%; 23.2%] 6.7% [5%; 9%] 79.1% [71.8%; 84.9%] 90.7% [89.2%; 92%] 68.9% [63.6%; 73.8%] 94.4% [91.8%; 96.2%]
 Sepsis-1 2.3% [1.8%; 3%] 28% [20.9%; 36.3%] 185/10,384 6.5% [5.6%; 7.5%] 16.2% [11.6%; 22.2%] 27.5% [19.7%; 36.9%] 99.5% [99.1%; 99.7%] 78.3% [65.4%; 87.3%] 95.2% [94.1%; 96%]
 Severe sepsis-1 1.4% [0.8%; 2.3%] 41.9% [29.1%; 55.9%] 275/10,384 3.3% [2.6%; 4.1%] 27.8% [21%; 35.8%] 34.4% [21.6%; 49.9%] 99.8% [99.6%; 99.8%] 83.3% [71.6%; 90.8%] 97.8% [97.4%; 98.2%]
 Septic shock-1 0.5% [0.3%; 0.9%] 61% [46.6%; 73.8%] 305/10,384 1.6% [1.3%; 2%] 44.9% [38.5%; 51.4%] 26.8% [14.9%; 43.3%] 99.9% [99.8%; 100%] 85.7% [61.2%; 95.8%] 98.8% [98.5%; 99.1%]
 Sepsis-3 1.4% [0.8%; 2.3%] 41.9% [29.1%; 55.9%] 658/10,384 2.9% [1.9%; 4.3%] 31.2% [22.7%; 41.1%] 38.0% [28.6%, 48.5%] 99.8% [99.6%, 99.9%] 84.5% [69.2%, 93.0%] 98.2% [97.5%, 98.7%]
 Septic shock-3 0.5% [0.3%; 0.9%] 61% [46.6%; 73.8%] 439/10,384 1.1% [0.8%; 1.5%] 54.4% [47.6%; 60.9%] 35.7% [19.1%, 56.6%] 99.9% [99.8%, 99.9%] 76.9% [65.0%, 85.7%] 99.3% [98.9%, 99.5%]
No ICU-treatment
 Infection 21.0% [19.4%, 22.7%] 2.6% [1.1%, 6.0%] 0/5565 17.6% [15.0%, 20.5%] 2.8% [1.2%, 6.3%] 77.5% [69.1%; 84.1%] 91.1% [89.7%; 92.3%] 64.9% [59.1%; 70.4%] 95.0% [92.3%; 96.8%]
 Sepsis-1 1.1% [0.8%, 1.6%] 12.8% [3.3%, 38.8%] 114/5565 4.2% [3.3%, 5.1%] 7.5% [2.6%, 20.0%] 17.4% [9.9%; 28.7%] 99.6% [99.2%; 99.8%] 63.9% [43.5%; 80.2%] 96.5% [95.4%; 97.4%]
 Severe sepsis-1 0.4% [0.2%; 1.1%] 23.4% [4.1%; 68.4%] 166/5565 1.3% [0.9%; 1.7%] 14.6% [4.9%; 36.3%] 24.8% [9.4%; 51.1%] 99.9% [99.8%; 99.9%] 70.5% [50.4%; 84.9%] 99.0% [98.7%; 99.3%]
 Septic shock 0% [0%; 0.1%] 50.4% [15.4%; 85%] 179/5565 0.1% [0.1%; 0.3%] 37.6% [10.3%; 76%] 3.0% [0.4%; 18.8%] 100.0% [99.9%; 100.0%] 18.4% [0.1%; 98.9%] 99.9% [99.7%; 99.9%]
 Sepsis-3 0.4% [0.2%; 1.1%] 23.4% [4.1%; 68.4%] 390/5565 0.9% [0.5%; 1.6%] 13.7% [3.4%; 41.3%] 28.6% [14.8%, 48.0%] 99.9% [99.7%, 99.9%] 68.7% [35.7%, 89.6%] 99.4% [99.1%, 99.6%]
 Septic shock-3 0% [0%; 0.1%] 50.4% [15.4%; 85%] 306/5565 0% [0%; 0.2%] 48.2% [6.4%; 92.7%] 10.4% [2.8%, 32.2%] 100.0% [99.8%, 100.0%] 14.8% [0.1%, 98.3%] 100.0% [99.8%, 100.0%]
ICU-treatment
 Infection 44.9% [42.1%, 47.8%] 18.5% [16.1%, 21.0%] 0/4819 44.5% [40.9%, 48.2%] 19.1% [16.0%, 22.6%] 84.3% [79.3%; 88.3%] 86.6% [81.4%; 90.5%] 83.5% [76.2%; 88.8%] 87.3% [83.6%; 90.3%]
 Sepsis-1 11.3% [9.1%, 13.9%] 40.1% [33.7%, 47.0%] 71/4819 25.0% [20.0%, 30.8%] 27.6% [24.0%, 31.5%] 40.4% [34.1%; 47.2%] 98.4% [96.9%; 99.2%] 89.4% [77.5%; 95.4%] 83.2% [78.5%; 87.1%]
 Severe sepsis-1 8.4% [5.8%; 12%] 49.7% [42.8%; 56.6%] 109/4819 18.8% [14.7%; 23.8%] 34.7% [29%; 40.9%] 39.4% [28.6%; 51.4%] 98.8% [97.6%; 99.4%] 88.6% [74.8%; 95.3%] 87.5% [83.8%; 90.5%]
 Septic shock-1 4.2% [2.4%; 7.3%] 61.9% [49.4%; 73.1%] 126/4819 12.9% [9.9%; 16.7%] 45.5% [39.5%; 51.6%] 28.7% [16.2%; 45.7%] 99.4% [98.6%; 99.8%] 88.6% [70.1%; 96.3%] 90.4% [87.2%; 92.8%]
 Sepsis-3 8.4% [5.8%; 12%] 49.7% [42.8%; 56.6%] 268/4819 18.5% [12.6%; 26.3%] 37.4% [30%; 45.3%] 41.3% [32.4%, 50.7%] 98.9% [97.9%, 99.5%] 89.7% [76.6%, 95.9%] 88.1% [82.5%, 92.1%]
 Septic shock-3 4.2% [2.4%; 7.3%] 61.9% [49.4%; 73.1%] 133/4819 9.5% [6.9%; 12.9%] 54.3% [48%; 60.5%] 36.1% [19.7%, 56.6%] 99.0% [98.3%, 99.5%] 79.6% [74.2%, 84.1%] 93.7% [90.2%, 96.0%]

Missing values on the reference standard result from lacking information on criteria of sepsis in medical records, absolute frequencies give numbers for the sample. Estimates of proportion of infection or sepsis cases, hospital mortality, sensitivity, specificity, PPV (positive predictive value), and NPV (negative predictive value) are adjusted for sampling weights and clustering and are reported with their 95% confidence intervals (CI)