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. 2012 Dec 28;2(6):e002011. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-002011

Table 3.

Diagnostic performance characteristics for other thresholds of serum potassium values at presentation to an emergency department and at hospital admission

ICD-10 E87.5 coding algorithm Emergency department
Hospital admission (mmol/l)
>5 >6 >6.5 >5 >6 >6.5
Per cent (95% CI) Per cent (95% CI) Per cent (95% CI) Per cent (95% CI) Per cent (95% CI)  Per cent (95% CI)
All diagnoses Sn 6.55 (5.84 to 7.35) 19.32 (16.73 to 22.21) 21.81 (18.17 to 25.95) 7.50 (6.83 to 8.22) 23.34 (20.95 to 25.91) 29.49 (25.76 to 33.51)
Sp 99.98 (99.96 to 99.98) 99.79 (99.76 to 99.83) 99.70 (99.66 to 99.74) 99.79 (99.75 to 99.82) 99.56 (99.50 to 99.61) 99.40 (99.34 to 99.46)
PPV 94.74 (91.50 to 96.78) 54.04 (48.23 to 59.73) 32.98 (27.78 to 38.64) 76.85 (73.11 to 80.21) 48.15 (43.96 to 52.36) 28.89 (25.23 to 32.85)
NPV 94.01 (93.83 to 94.19) 99.00 (98.92 to 99.07) 99.48 (99.42 to 99.53) 92.00 (91.78 to 92.20) 98.66 (98.57 to 98.75) 99.42 (99.35 to 99.47)
Main/most responsible diagnosis Sn 2.65 (2.20 to 3.18) 8.53 (6.79 to 10.68) 9.05 (6.69 to 12.13) 1.16 (0.91 to 1.47) 4.94 (3.81 to 6.37) 7.94 (5.93 to 10.56)
Sp 99.99 (99.97 to 99.99) 99.92 (99.90 to 99.94) 99.88 (99.85 to 99.90) 99.99 (99.99 to 100) 99.98 (99.97 to 99.99) 99.96 (99.94 to 99.97)
PPV 93.16 (87.09 to 96.49) 58.12 (49.06 to 66.66) 33.33 (25.44 to 42.28) 95.52 (87.64 to 98.47) 82.09 (71.25 to 89.45) 62.69 (50.72 to 73.28)
NPV 93.78 (93.59 to 93.96) 98.87 (98.78 to 98.95) 99.39 (99.33 to 99.45) 91.51 (91.29 to 91.72) 98.36 (98.26 to 98.45) 99.24 (99.17 to 99.31)
Preadmit diagnosis 5.84 (5.25 to 6.49) 19.93 (17.69 to 22.38) 25.71 (22.17 to 29.60)
99.92 (99.89 to 99.94) 99.77 (99.73 to 99.80) 99.63 (99.58 to 99.68)
87.30 (83.52 to 90.31) 60.00 (54.93 to 64.86) 36.76 (32.00 to 41.78)
91.87 (91.66 to 92.08) 98.61 (98.52 to 98.70) 99.39 (99.32 to 99.44)

ICD-10, International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision; NPV, negative-predictive value: PPV, positive-predictive value; Sn, sensitivity; Sp, specificity.