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2025/10/19 Sepsis Epidemiology in Asia Pacific: Are We Winning?
Prof. Lowell Ling (Hong Kong)
- Dr. 凌若崴(Lo Well Lowell Ling)
- Anaesthesia and Intensive Care
Biography：
Lowell Ling is a Clinical Associate Professor at The Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care. He is an intensivist at Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong. His research focus is on using epidemiological, clinical and genomic approaches to understand sepsis. He and his team have used electronic health records to estimate population-level incidence and mortality of sepsis. His research team is working on investigating the role of molecular pathogen detection techniques in basic science studies and clinical trials. He is the Secretary of the Asian Critical Care Clinical Trials Group and member of the Asia Pacific Sepsis Alliance.
Lowell Ling is a Clinical Associate Professor at The Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care. He is an intensivist at Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong. His research focus is on using epidemiological, clinical and genomic approaches to understand sepsis. He and his team have used electronic health records to estimate population-level incidence and mortality of sepsis. His research team is working on investigating the role of molecular pathogen detection techniques in basic science studies and clinical trials. He is the Secretary of the Asian Critical Care Clinical Trials Group and member of the Asia Pacific Sepsis Alliance.
Abstract：
Sepsis burden is commonly estimated by administrative methods using diagnostic coding from discharge summaries. This is because administrative data is easy to collect and readily available. However, administrative coding may be prone to significant bias from change in coding practices, incentives to code and variability to codes. This has led to significant challenges in estimating the true burden of sepsis between regions and countries and also trends overtime. In contrast, use of objective clinical data from electronic health records have been shown to produce more accurate estimates of sepsis burden. In this presentation we will discuss the latest estimates of sepsis burden in Asia Pacific region, and the opportunities to leverage population electronic health record data to more accurately calculate sepsis incidence and mortality. We will review the current limitations and challenges of using electronic health records to study sepsis epidemiology.
Sepsis burden is commonly estimated by administrative methods using diagnostic coding from discharge summaries. This is because administrative data is easy to collect and readily available. However, administrative coding may be prone to significant bias from change in coding practices, incentives to code and variability to codes. This has led to significant challenges in estimating the true burden of sepsis between regions and countries and also trends overtime. In contrast, use of objective clinical data from electronic health records have been shown to produce more accurate estimates of sepsis burden. In this presentation we will discuss the latest estimates of sepsis burden in Asia Pacific region, and the opportunities to leverage population electronic health record data to more accurately calculate sepsis incidence and mortality. We will review the current limitations and challenges of using electronic health records to study sepsis epidemiology.