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Table 4 Sensitivity and specificity of the Robson screening tool and ED doctor clinical judgment. Sensitivity and specificity of the Robson screening tool and ED doctor clinical judgment with respect to sepsis identification*, among adult ED patients presenting with DGC

From: Longer time to antibiotics and higher mortality among septic patients with non-specific presentations -a cross sectional study of Emergency Department patients indicating that a screening tool may improve identification

  Septic patients (according to discharge ICD-code) presenting to the ED with chief complaint DGC DGC reference group-total DGC reference group-patients with infectious discharge diagnosis are excluded
  n = 61 n = 61 n = 38
The Robson screening tool**    
Sepsis according to tool 34 (true positive, 63.0 % a) 13 (false positive, 31.7 %) 5 (false positive, 19.2 %)
No sepsis according to tool 20 (false negative, 37.0 %) 28 (true negative, 68.3 % b) 21 (true negative, 80.8 % b)
Clinical judgment    
Sepsis according to clinical judgment 15 (true positive, 24.6 % a) 0 (false positive, 0.0 %) 0 (false positive, 0.0 %)
No sepsis according to clinical judgment 46 (false negative, 75.4 %) 61 (true negative, 100.0 % b) 38 (true negative, 100.0 % b)
  1. ED Emergency Department, DGC Decreased General Condition
  2. *Reference sepsis is defined as discharge ICD-code sepsis upon discharge and exclusion of all patients developing signs of infection ≥48 h after ED admittance
  3. **Only patients with documentation for all required parameters for the Robson screening tool are included in the analysis
  4. Bold characters indicate the sensitivitya and specificityb of the Robson screening tool and clinical judgment
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Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine

ISSN: 1757-7241