Data from clinical database on septic shock are valid.

INTRODUCTION Clinical databases have become important tools in intensive care. Disease severity and organ dysfunction scoring systems are registered in the databases, including the Simplified Acute Physiology Score II (SAPS II) and the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and accuracy of a clinical database on intensive care unit (ICU) patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS Data were extracted from the clinical database, Critical Information System (CIS). We included all adult patients admitted to one of seven Danish ICUs between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2010 diagnosed with septic shock. Validation of the diagnosis of septic shock and SAPS II and SOFA scores were obtained on every tenth patient by comparing data entries in CIS with the source data stored in the unit. RESULTS A total of 1,353 patients were identified and data on 142 patients were selected for validation. All but one patient (99%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 95-100) fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for septic shock. We found less than 10% variation in SAPS II in 78% (95% CI: 73-86) and less than 10% variation in SOFA scores in 80% (95% CI: 72-85) of the cases. The average bias between the registered and corrected SAPS II according to the Bland-Altman plot was -1.8 (limits of agreement: -10.1 to 6.6). Furthermore, the average bias between the registered and corrected SOFA score according to the Bland-Altman plot was -0.2 (limits of agreement: -2.4 to 2.0). CONCLUSION The accuracy of the diagnosis of septic shock was high and both SAPS II and SOFA scores were reliable and accurately recorded in the ICU database. FUNDING not relevant. TRIAL REGISTRATION not relevant.