Study designs of evaluations included in the review
No inclusion criteria relating to study design were specified.
Specific interventions included in the review
Studies were included in the review if patients had a complete white blood cell count and differential and/or CRP measurement as part of a sepsis workup.
Reference standard test against which the new test was compared
Studies were included if an appropriate reference standard had been used: neonatal infection defined as a clinical condition compatible with systemic infection and (1) a positive culture from blood, cerebrospinal fluid, or urine obtained by suprapubic aspiration or clean catheterisation of the bladder, or (2) positive cultures of body fluids obtained from normally sterile sites, or (3) post-mortem histopathologic diagnosis of meningitis or pneumonia.
Participants included in the review
Studies of pre-term or term infants admitted to the intensive care unit and evaluated for sepsis were eligible for inclusion.
Outcomes assessed in the review
Studies were included only if they provided sufficient information to enable the construction of 2x2 tables. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were the outcome measures calculated by the review.
How were decisions on the relevance of primary studies made?
Two reviewers assessed the studies for inclusion and any disagreements were resolved by consensus. Agreement about which studies to include in the overview was 92% with a weighted kappa of 0.76.