Table Info

Table 1.

Comparison between contemporary criteria for detection of systemic and life-threatening infections

Characteristic/score	SIRS	qSOFA	qPitt
Purpose: what is it designed to detect?	Systemic infections (e.g., BSI)	Life-threatening infections (i.e., sepsis)	Critically ill among those with systemic infections or BSI
Components	Temperature > 38°C or < 36°C	SBP ≤ 100 mmHg	Temperature < 36°C
	Heart rate > 90/min	RR ≥ 22/min	SBP < 90 mmHg or vasopressor use
	RR > 20/min	Altered mental status	RR ≥ 25/min or mechanical ventilation
	WBC count > 12,000/μL or < 4,000/μL		Altered mental status
			Cardiac arrest
Cut off score to meet criteria	SIRS ≥ 2	qSOFA ≥ 2	qPitt ≥ 2
Pros	High sensitivity for BSI	Simplest score	High discrimination to predict mortality
Pros		Includes only bedside clinical variables	Includes only bedside clinical variables
Cons	Low specificity for infections	Variable sensitivity and specificity based on population	Not evaluated yet in patients with suspected infections
	Low PPV
	Non-discriminatory performance for mortality
	Includes a laboratory variable

qSOFA: quick sequential organ failure assessment; qPitt: quick Pitt bacteremia score; SBP: systolic blood pressure; RR: respiratory rate; PPV: positive predictive value

Declarations

Author contributions

MA contributed to the conception of the article and literature review. ND created the figure and supplemented the literature review. Both authors were involved in the drafting and editing of the manuscript.

Conflicts of interest

Both authors declare no potential conflicts of interest related to this work.

Ethical approval

Not applicable.

Consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent to publication

Not applicable.

Availability of data and materials

Not applicable.

Funding

Not applicable.

Copyright

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