• Joong-Yub Kim, Hong Yeul Lee, Jinwoo Lee, Dong Kyu Oh, Su Yeon Lee, Mi Hyeon Park, Chae-Man Lim, Sang-Min Lee, and Korean Sepsis Alliance (KSA) Investigators.
• Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
• J. Korean Med. Sci. 2024 Mar 11; 39 (9): e87e87.

BackgroundProlonged length of hospital stay (LOS) is associated with an increased risk of hospital-acquired conditions and worse outcomes. We conducted a nationwide, multicenter, retrospective cohort study to determine whether prolonged hospitalization before developing sepsis has a negative impact on its prognosis.MethodsWe analyzed data from 19 tertiary referral or university-affiliated hospitals between September 2019 and December 2020. Adult patients with confirmed sepsis during hospitalization were included. In-hospital mortality was the primary outcome. The patients were divided into two groups according to their LOS before the diagnosis of sepsis: early- (< 5 days) and late-onset groups (≥ 5 days). Conditional multivariable logistic regression for propensity score matched-pair analysis was employed to assess the association between late-onset sepsis and the primary outcome.ResultsA total of 1,395 patients were included (median age, 68.0 years; women, 36.3%). The early- and late-onset sepsis groups comprised 668 (47.9%) and 727 (52.1%) patients. Propensity score-matched analysis showed an increased risk of in-hospital mortality in the late-onset group (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 3.00; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.69-5.34). The same trend was observed in the entire study population (aOR, 1.85; 95% CI, 1.37-2.50). When patients were divided into LOS quartile groups, an increasing trend of mortality risk was observed in the higher quartiles (P for trend < 0.001).ConclusionExtended LOS before developing sepsis is associated with higher in-hospital mortality. More careful management is required when sepsis occurs in patients hospitalized for ≥ 5 days.© 2024 The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences.

14 keywords...

hide…