ArticleTrials2018
Sample size implications of mortality definitions in sepsis: a retrospective cohort study.
Article in Trials, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- A Review of Predictive Analytics Solutions for Sepsis Patients.Applied clinical informatics · 2020Review
- Patient's characteristics and outcomes in necrotising soft-tissue infections: results from a Scandinavian, multicentre, prospective cohort study.Intensive care medicine · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMany randomized controlled trials (RCTs) employ mortality at a given time as a primary outcome. There are at least three common ways to measure 90-day mortality: first, all-location mortality, that is, all-cause mortality within 90 days of randomization at any location. Second, ARDSnet mortality is death in a healthcare facility of greater intensity than the patient was in prior to the hospitalization during which they were randomized. Finally, in-hospital mortality is death prior to discharge from the primary hospitalization of randomization. Data comparing the impact of these different measurements on sample size are lacking. We evaluated the extent to which event rates vary by mortality definition.
methodsThis was a retrospective cohort study of 30,691 patients hospitalized at Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals for sepsis during 2009. 12,727 (41.5%) received care in an ICU setting. For each patient, we measured event rates for three different 90-day mortality outcomes: all-location mortality, ARDSnet mortality, and in-hospital mortality. We also calculated sample sizes necessary to power an example RCT given those event rates.
resultsAt 90 days, all-location mortality was 26.4% (95% CI 25.9-26.9%), ARDSnet mortality was 19.2% (95% CI 18.8-19.7%), and in-hospital mortality was 13.4% (95% CI 13.0-13.8%) (p < 0.01 all comparisons). These respective event rates result in different required sample sizes to achieve a 20% relative reduction in mortality with 80% power and a 5% false positive rate. Such a trial of VA sepsis patients would require 2080 patients for all-location mortality, 3080 for ARDSnet mortality, and 4796 for in-hospital mortality. Among sepsis patients mechanically ventilated in an ICU, 2438 experienced all-location mortality (46.2% [95% CI 44.8-47.5%]), 2181 experienced ARDSnet mortality (41.3% [95% CI 40.0-42.6%]), and 1894 experienced in-hospital mortality (36.0% [95% CI 34.7-37.3%]).
conclusionsEvent rates vary substantially in sepsis patients based on the chosen 90-day mortality definition. This could have important implications for RCT design trade-offs.
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