Table 5.

Study Variables and Data Sources Used in the DASGIB Database

Variable	Data Sources
Baseline demographics (civil registration number, age, sex)	Medical records
Time of admission	Prioritized order: Ambulance records, first triage at admission (ie measurement of blood pressure, pulse rate, temperature, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, and Glasgow Coma Scale score), or administrative notation of admission by secretary
Referral and admission diagnoses	Ambulance and medical records
Duration of symptoms	Medical records
Travel history (30 days)	Medical records
Pre-existing comorbidities	Medical records and electronic medication records
Pre-morbid functional level	Medical records
Exposures (occupational, recreative, animal)	Medical records
Symptoms and signs at admission of relevance for each CNS infection	Medical records
First triage at admission (ie measurement of blood pressure, pulse rate, temperature, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, and Glasgow Coma Scale)	Medical records and nurse’s charts. If Glasgow Coma Scale is not registered in these data sources, the last observation from the ambulance records is noted.
Date and time of antimicrobial treatment	Prioritized order: Electronic medication records, nurse’s charts, and doctor’s notes
Date and time of lumbar puncture	Electronic laboratory files of the Department of Clinical Biochemistry
Date and time of cranial imaging	Electronic files of the Department of Radiology
Blood tests and cell counts of cerebrospinal fluid	Electronic laboratory files of the Department of Clinical Biochemistry
Microbiological analyses	Electronic files of the Department of Clinical Microbiology and Statens Serum Institut
Observations during neurocritical care and intensive care units (eg intracranial pressure measurements)	Observational charts at intensive care units
Outpatient visits and subsequent hospitalizations	Medical records
Dates of discharge and death	Medical records

Abbreviation: DASGIB, Danish Study Group of Infections of the Brain.