Accreditation

Study: Most sepsis-associated deaths caused by coexisting conditions

Briefings on Accreditation and Quality, April 1, 2019

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BY CHRISTOPHER CHENEY, SENIOR CLINICAL CARE EDITOR AT HEALTHLEADERS

Most sepsis-associated deaths are linked to other underlying causes and are not preventable with better sepsis care alone, indicates recently published research.

On an annual basis, sepsis affects about 1.7 million American adults and is linked to more than 250,000 deaths.

The research, published in February in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), focused on sepsis-associated deaths at six academic medical centers and community hospitals, where sepsis was the most common immediate cause of death.

“However, most underlying causes of death were related to severe chronic comorbidities and most sepsis-associated deaths were unlikely to be preventable through better hospital-based care. Further innovations in the prevention and care of underlying conditions may be necessary before a major reduction in sepsis-associated deaths can be achieved," the researchers wrote.

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