TABLE 1.
Characteristics of included cases with coded sepsis.
| Variable | Retrospective baseline (01.2014–03.2016) | Intervention phase (04.2016–06.2018) |
| Number of cases with coded sepsis | 46.043 | 53.581 |
| Age (years) | 72 (60, 79) | 72 (61, 79) |
| Sex: female | 39% | 38.7% |
| Admission: referral by physician or dentist | 21.1% | 19% |
| Emergency | 63.7% | 65.2% |
| Hospital transfer with pre-treatment >24 h | 10.9% | 11.3% |
| Hospital transfer with pre-treatment <24 h or rehabilitation hospital | 4.3% | 4.5% |
| Comorbidities | ||
| CCI: cerebrovascular disease | 12.8% | 13.9% |
| CCI: dementia | 8.5% | 8.5% |
| CCI: mild liver disease | 9.7% | 10.1% |
| CCI: moderate or severe liver disease | 4.2% | 4.1% |
| CCI: myocardial infarction | 10.5% | 10.9% |
| CCI: peptic ulcer disease | 4% | 4.1% |
| ECI: alcohol abuse | 7.1% | 7.1% |
| ECI: blood loss anemia | 0.9% | 1% |
| ECI: cardiac arrhythmias | 42.6% | 44.7% |
| ECI: coagulopathy | 39.3% | 37.4% |
| ECI: congestive heart failure | 34.4% | 34.8% |
| ECI: deficiency anemia | 4.4% | 4.8% |
| ECI: depression | 6% | 5.9% |
| ECI: drug abuse | 1.5% | 1.8% |
| ECI: hypertension, complicated | 10.1% | 10.7% |
| ECI: hypertension, uncomplicated | 42.2% | 42.6% |
| ECI: hypothyroidism | 11.6% | 13.2% |
| ECI: lymphoma | 3.5% | 3.4% |
| ECI: metastatic cancer | 7.6% | 7.7% |
| ECI: obesity | 9.1% | 9.7% |
| ECI: other neurological disorders | 15.6% | 16.7% |
| ECI: paralysis | 9.2% | 9.8% |
| ECI: peripheral vascular disorders | 16.6% | 16.5% |
| ECI: psychoses | 1.2% | 1.1% |
| ECI: pulmonary circulation disorders | 7.8% | 8.1% |
| ECI: renal failure | 30.2% | 30.9% |
| ECI: solid tumor without metastasis | 15.2% | 14.6% |
| ECI: valvular disease | 13% | 14.4% |
| ECI: weight loss | 11.6% | 13.5% |
| Leukemia | 3.8% | 3.5% |
| Characteristics of infection and sepsis | ||
| Infection of lower respiratory tract | 48.5% | 49% |
| Urinary tract infection | 29.2% | 30.9% |
| Abdominal infection | 21.8% | 20.3% |
| Foreign body associated infection | 12.9% | 12.6% |
| Soft tissue and wound infections | 7.3% | 8% |
| Infection of vascular system | 5.6% | 6% |
| Infection of central nervous system | 1.9% | 2.2% |
| Infection of upper respiratory tract | 1.7% | 2.9% |
| Sepsis as primary diagnosis | 35.2% | 33.4% |
| Conduction of chemotherapy | 6.2% | 6.4% |
| Conduction of palliative care | 2.1% | 2.1% |
| Hospital length of stay (days) | 17 (8, 33) | 16 (8, 31) |
| Hospital mortality | 43.5% | 42.7% |
Descriptive statistics presented as median (first quartile, third quartile) or %. CCI, Charlson comorbidity index; ECI, Elixhauser comorbidity index. Cases with sepsis defined by presence of ICD-10-GM codes R65.1 (sepsis with organ dysfunction) or R57.2 (septic shock). The beginning of the intervention phase is defined uniformly by April 2016 for all hospitals.