• Caitlyn D Ahlberg, Sara Wallam, Lemya A Tirba, Stephanie N Itumba, Linda Gorman, and Panagis Galiatsatos.
• Department of Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA.
• J Crit Care. 2023 Oct 1; 77: 154324154324.

RationaleSepsis is a syndrome of life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host immune response to infection. Social risk factors including location and poverty are associated with sepsis-related disparities. Understanding the social and biological phenotypes linked with the incidence of sepsis is warranted to identify the most at-risk populations. We aim to examine how factors in disadvantage influence health disparities related to sepsis.MethodsA scoping review was performed for English-language articles published in the United States from 1990 to 2022 on PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus. Of the 2064 articles found, 139 met eligibility criteria and were included for review.ResultsThere is consistency across the literature of disproportionately higher rates of sepsis incidence, mortality, readmissions, and associated complications, in neighborhoods with socioeconomic disadvantage and significant poverty. Chronic arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus also occur more frequently in the same geographic distribution as sepsis, suggesting a potential shared pathophysiology.ConclusionsThe distribution of chronic arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, social risk factors associated with socioeconomic disadvantage, and sepsis incidence, are clustered in specific geographical areas and linked by endothelial dysfunction. Such population factors can be utilized to create equitable interventions aimed at mitigating sepsis incidence and sepsis-related disparities.Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

17 keywords...

hide…