Awareness of physicians of the new definition and biomarkers of sepsis

Aim

To evaluate the awareness of physicians of the new definition of sepsis that was proposed at the Sepsis-3 international conference in 2016, the diagnostic criteria for sepsis and the frequency of their application in clinical practice, and the physicians’ opinions on the preferred methods of laboratory diagnosis of suspected sepsis.

Material and methods

We conducted a survey of 922 physicians, including 444 critical care physicians, 280 specialists in internal medicine, 106 surgeons, and 92 obstetricians/gynecologists. Only specialists who practiced medicine for at least two years were enrolled into our study. The survey involved 720 in-patient doctors and 202 outpatient physicians.

Results

Only 336 (36.5%) of respondents reported that they knew the new criteria for sepsis and used them in clinical practice. The new definition of sepsis is often used by critical care physicians (64.9%), whereas the awareness of other physicaion of the new criteria was low. Most (66.7%) critical care physicians assess each patient's condition using the SOFA scale. More than two thirds (70.4%) of respondents know presepsin, a biomarker of sepsis, but most of them have never used this biomarker in clinical practice due to its unavaliability in a medical institution.

Conclusion

The awareness of the new definition of sepsis was low among specialists in internal medicine, surgeons, and obstetricians/gynecologists, whereas it was significantly higher among critical care physicians. Presepsin is unavailable in many medical institutions.