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Sepsis rates in Australian intensive care units (ICUs) are significantly underestimated, according to new research published by the .

The study found that the incidence and mortality rates of sepsis in Australian ICUs聽are both significantly underestimated by the current database methodology.

Sepsis is conservatively estimated to cause around 6 million deaths worldwide each year, many of them preventable. Being able to make accurate estimates of population-level incidence and mortality is vital for setting patient safety standards and hospital policies.

鈥淎ccurately quantifying the incidence and disease burden of sepsis is difficult,鈥� the authors, led by Professor Simon Finfer of the , wrote. 鈥淎s there are no definitive tissue or serological tests for sepsis, the gold standard for diagnosis is clinical identification of organ dysfunction caused by infection.

鈥淎t the population level, this would require either prospective cohort studies or retrospective medical record reviews on a scale impractical for routine disease surveillance.鈥�

Instead, estimates of the incidence and mortality of sepsis in patients in Australian ICUs have been made by the Centre for Outcome and Resource Evaluation (ANZICS-CORE).

The accuracy of these estimates has been unknown. The researchers therefore screened, twice daily, all patients over 18 admitted to the 60-bed ICU at Royal North Shore 黑料吃瓜群网 in Sydney for clinical diagnoses of sepsis or septic shock.

The patients were also assessed with the methodology of the ANZICS CORE adult ICU patient database. They found that 鈥渢he estimated incidence of sepsis among adult ICU patients was significantly higher when based upon the reference standard 鈥� prospective clinical diagnosis 鈥� than when applying the ANZICS CORE database criteria, as was the proportion of patients with sepsis who died in hospital鈥�. They also found that 鈥渢he estimated incidence of septic shock was higher when using the ANZICS CORE methodology鈥�.

鈥淲hen compared with prospective clinical diagnosis, ANZICS CORE database criteria significantly underestimate the incidence of sepsis and overestimate the incidence of septic shock, and also result in lower estimated hospital mortality rates for each condition,鈥� Finfer and colleagues reported.

鈥淐alibration of methods based on [International Classification of Disease] coding and routinely collected data (such as those of ANZICS-CORE) in cohort studies similar to ours could increase the accuracy of data on the incidence and burden of sepsis, a major public health challenge and a threat to patient safety.鈥�

World Sepsis Day, a global effort to improve awareness of sepsis and reduce resulting death and disability, is held on 13 September each year.

Image credit: 漏stock.adobe.com/au/greenvector