Mortality of Sepsis in Swedish Intensive Care Units 2008-2016

All adult patients admitted to a general ICU included in the Swedish Intensive Care Registry (a majority of all ICUs in Sweden) between 2008-01-01 and 2016-10-18 are followed for one year and any deaths are registered. Data on illness severity scores, age, sex, admitting hospital and duration of ICU stay are recovered. Data are linked with the inpatient registry of the Swedish Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen), and any discharge diagnoses from the last 5 years preceding ICU admission are recovered. These are used to assess chronic comorbidity.

Mortality, adjusted for severity of illness, comorbidity and patient factors, is studied and any changes over time during the inclusion period are assessed.

The data in the Swedish ICU Registry are entered by the treating ICU physicians and include severity of illness (Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS)3), selected chronic comorbidity, sex and date of birth, ICU stay and selected interventions and complications. Relevant International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 diagnoses are required and assessment of the occurrence of severe sepsis or septic shock, during the inclusion period defined according to the American College of Chest Physicians/Society of Critical Care Medicine (ACCP/SCCM) (sepsis 2) criteria, is mandatory when entering data.

Inclusion criteria

• Admission to a Swedish general ICU (excluding specialized cardiothoracic, neurosurgical, pediatric and burns units) between 2008-01-01 and 2016-10-18
• Episode registered in Swedish Intensive Care Registry

Exclusion criteria

• Age < 18 years
• Readmission (only first episode during the period included)