Sepsis PSP question verification form

The purpose of this Question Verification Form is to enable Priority Setting Partnerships (PSPs) to describe clearly how they checked that their questions were unanswered, before starting the interim prioritisation stage of the process.   

The JLA requires PSPs to be transparent and accountable in defining their own scope and evidence checking process. This will enable researchers and other stakeholders to understand how individual PSPs decided that their questions were unanswered, and any limitations of their evidence checking.

Name of the PSP 

Sepsis PSP 

Please describe the scope of the PSP 

The scope of this PSP will include all aspects of the management of sepsis in adults. It will focus on susceptibility, diagnosis, diagnostic engineered tools, treatment (any therapy in hospital and longer-term) and outcomes (physical, psychological, social, and societal) including assessing impact and improving outcomes. We will also explore the impact on family members and caregivers.  

The PSP will focus on the UK.

The PSP will exclude from its scope questions about: 

• The pre cursor infection that leads to sepsis, whilst recognising that susceptibility to sepsis tends to follow susceptibility to infection 
• Paediatric sepsis (will be the subject of a separate PSP) 
• Family members who are bereaved due to sepsis 

Please provide a brief overview of your approach to checking whether the questions were unanswered 

The information specialist (Kristina Staley) searched online databases and recent guidelines for all systematic reviews related to sepsis. 

Please list the type(s) of evidence you used to verify your questions as unanswered 

Published systematic reviews 

Please list the sources that you searched in order to identify that evidence 

Databases searched: PubMed 

What search terms did you use? 

Search terms used: “sepsis” and “systematic review” 

Please describe the parameters of the search (eg time limits, excluded sources, country/language) and the rationale for any limitations 

Years: 2021-2024 
Included all reviews written in English. 

Also searched for relevant systematic reviews in the references supporting the “Surviving Sepsis Campaign: International Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2021”. 

Names of individuals who undertook the evidence checking

Kristina Staley 

On what date was the question verification process completed? 

21^st February 2024 

Any other relevant information 

N/A