Quality Improvement Committee (QIC) Statement on Sepsis-3
The members of the Quality Improvement Committee of the Global Sepsis Alliance have composed a statement regarding the operationalization of the proposed diagnostic criteria for the Sepsis-3 definition
The committee is supportive of the updated definition and wish for it to be implemented in such a way that the practice of early recognition and treatment, which has been shown to be effective in reducing sepsis associated mortality, can be balanced by identifying the patients at risk and minimizing overtreatment.
Recently published articles assessing qSOFA, in particular, use the terms ‘diagnostic’ and ‘prognostic’ interchangeably in describing its potential applicability in clinical practice. Our concern is to bring clarity to the available published data and for the safe and appropriate use of the new definition and its proposed diagnostic criteria. In particular, that the clinical context in which the criteria are tested is made very clear so that a prudent assessment of the generalizability of the information can be made and the possibility of harm avoided.