The impact of laboratory data missingness on sepsis diagnosis timeliness

Objective To investigate the impact of missing laboratory measurements on sepsis diagnostic delays.Materials and Methods In adult patients admitted to 2 University of California San Diego (UCSD) hospitals from January 1, 2021 to June 30, 2024, we evaluated the relative time of organ failure (TOF) and time of clinical suspicion of sepsis (Tsuspicion) in patients with sepsis according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) definition.Results Of the patients studied, 48.7% (n = 2017) in the emergency department (ED), 30.8% (n = 209) in the wards, and 14.4% (n = 167) in the intensive care unit (ICU) had TOF after Tsuspicion. Patients with TOF after Tsuspicion had significantly higher data missingness of 1 or more of the 5 laboratory components used to determine organ failure. The mean number of missing labs was 4.23 vs 2.83 in the ED, 4.04 vs 3.38 in the wards, and 3.98 vs 3.19 in the ICU.Discussion Our study identified many sepsis patients with missing laboratory results vital for the identification of organ failure and the diagnosis of sepsis at or before the time of clinical suspicion of sepsis. Addressing data missingness via more timely laboratory assessment could precipitate an earlier recognition of organ failure and potentially earlier diagnosis of and treatment initiation for sepsis.Conclusions More prompt laboratory assessment might improve the timeliness of sepsis recognition and treatment. Background Sepsis is a life-threatening condition resulting from dysregulated host response to infection affecting nearly 1.7 million adults in the United States per year.Question Is there a difference in laboratory data missingness among patients where organ failure was identified before versus after the time of clinical suspicion of sepsis?Findings Laboratory missingness is significantly higher in patients in the emergency department (ED), wards, and intensive care unit (ICU) where organ failure was identified after time of clinical suspicion of sepsis.Meaning More prompt laboratory assessment might improve the timeliness of recognition and treatment of sepsis.