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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Mar 1.
Published in final edited form as: Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2017 Mar;18(3 Suppl 1):S4–S16. doi: 10.1097/PCC.0000000000001047

Figure 1. The importance of timing in the determination of incident and prevalent cases of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS).

Figure 1

The timing of the study of MODS during the course of hospitalization is crucial to the accurate determination of its incidence and prevalence. If MODS is assessed continuously over time, then all new cases will be identified. However, if MODS is only assessed at a single time point, then MODS that results in death prior to that single time point (early death) will be missed. Similarly, MODS that resolves prior to the single time point assessment will also be missed.