[Sepsis incidence in Germany and worldwide : Current knowledge and limitations of research using health claims data]. / Inzidenz der Sepsis in Deutschland und weltweit : Aktueller Wissensstand und Limitationen der Erhebung in Abrechnungsdaten.

Sepsis is the life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection. With an estimated 48.9 million patients being affected by sepsis every year, sepsis is one of the most common diseases worldwide. Approximately 20% of global deaths are considered as sepsis-related. In Germany, a study based on nationwide hospital discharge data of almost all German hospitals found a sepsis incidence of 158 per 100,000 inhabitants. Estimates based on clinical patient data from other industrialized countries were 780/100,000 (Sweden) and 517/100,000 (USA). However, the comparability of incidence rates is limited due to the different data sources and sepsis case identification strategies used. In all, 41.7% of sepsis patients died in hospital, and 17.9% of intensive care unit patients are affected by sepsis. Case identification of sepsis in health claims data has a low sensitivity; therefore, it is likely that sepsis incidence is underestimated using these data, as many sepsis cases are not coded as such. For the purpose of epidemiological surveillance, health claims data should be complemented by other data sources such as registries or electronic health records.

Incidence and mortality of hospital- and ICU-treated sepsis: results from an updated and expanded systematic review and meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: To investigate the global burden of sepsis in hospitalized adults by updating and expanding a systematic review and meta-analysis and to compare findings with recent Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) sepsis estimates. METHODS: Thirteen electronic databases were searched for studies on population-level sepsis incidence defined according to clinical criteria (Sepsis-1, -2: severe sepsis criteria, or sepsis-3: sepsis criteria) or relevant ICD-codes. The search of the original systematic review was updated for studies published 05/2015-02/2019 and complemented by a search targeting low- or middle-income-country (LMIC) studies published 01/1979-02/2019. We performed a random-effects meta-analysis with incidence of hospital- and ICU-treated sepsis and proportion of deaths among these sepsis cases as outcomes. RESULTS: Of 4746 results, 28 met the inclusion criteria. 21 studies contributed data for the meta-analysis and were pooled with 30 studies from the original meta-analysis. Pooled incidence was 189 [95% CI 133, 267] hospital-treated sepsis cases per 100,000 person-years. An estimated 26.7% [22.9, 30.7] of sepsis patients died. Estimated incidence of ICU-treated sepsis was 58 [42, 81] per 100,000 person-years, of which 41.9% [95% CI 36.2, 47.7] died prior to hospital discharge. There was a considerably higher incidence of hospital-treated sepsis observed after 2008 (+ 46% compared to the overall time frame). CONCLUSIONS: Compared to results from the IHME study, we found an approximately 50% lower incidence of hospital-treated sepsis. The majority of studies included were based on administrative data, thus limiting our ability to assess temporal trends and regional differences. The incidence of sepsis remains unknown for the vast majority of LMICs, highlighting the urgent need for improved epidemiological sepsis surveillance.

Challenges in assessing the burden of sepsis and understanding the inequalities of sepsis outcomes between National Health Systems: secular trends in sepsis and infection incidence and mortality in Germany.

PURPOSE: Sepsis contributes considerably to global morbidity and mortality, while reasons for its increasing incidence remain unclear. We assessed risk adjusted secular trends in sepsis and infection epidemiology in Germany. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study using nationwide German hospital discharge data. We assessed incidence, outcomes and trends of hospital-treated sepsis and infections between 2010 and 2015. Sepsis was identified by explicit ICD-10 sepsis codes. As sensitivity analysis, results were compared with sepsis cases identified by implicit sepsis coding (combined infection and organ dysfunction codes). RESULTS: Among 18 664 877 hospital admissions in 2015, 4 213 116 (22.6%) patients had at least one infection code. There were 320 198 patients that had explicit sepsis codes including 136 542 patients with severe sepsis and septic shock; 183 656 patients were coded as sepsis without organ dysfunction. For patients with explicitly coded sepsis (including severe sepsis), or with severe sepsis alone, mortality rates over the period 2010-2015 decreased from 26.6 to 23.5%, and from 47.8 to 41.7%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Sepsis and infection remain significant causes of hospital admission and death in Germany. Sepsis-related mortality is higher and has declined to a lesser degree than in other high-income countries. Although infection rates steadily increased, the observed annual increase of sepsis cases seems to result, to a considerable degree, from improved coding of sepsis.