• Glauco Adrieno Westphal, Kalinca Daberkow Vieira, Roman Orzechowski, Keitiane Michele Kaefer, Viviane Renata Zaclikevis, and Marco Fabio Mastroeni.
• Hospital Municipal São José, Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
• Rev. Panam. Salud Publica. 2012 Jun 1;31(6):499-505.

ObjectiveDescribe the impact of severe sepsis and septic shock on patients' quality of life following hospital discharge.MethodsA controlled study conducted in two general hospitals of Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil, of in-patients with severe sepsis or septic shock during the period of August 2005 through November 2007. The patients were contacted by telephone between June and November 2009. The study group responded to Short Form-36, a questionnaire on the quality of life, two years after being discharged from hospital. The questionnaire was also answered by a control group composed of people who lived at the same residence as the study subjects, had no recent hospitalization, and were close in age.ResultsOf 217 patients with severe sepsis or septic shock, 112 (51.6%) survived hospitalization. The survival rate after hospital discharge was 41.02% at 180 days, 37.4% at one year, 34.3% at 18 months, and 32.3% in two years. Thirty-six survivors responded to Short Form-36. There were declines in the quality of life for survivors (No. = 36) in comparison to the control group (No. = 36) in the following areas: physical functioning (59 ± 32 versus 91 ± 18; P < 0.001), vitality (48 ± 13 versus 59 ± 14; P < 0.008), mental health (48 ± 13 versus 59 ± 14; P < 0.03), bodily pain (50 ± 26 versus 76 ± 16; P < 0.001), general health perceptions (53 ± 18 versus 67 ± 13; P < 0.004), physical role functioning (67 ± 45 versus 85 ± 34; P < 0.05), and social role functioning (70 ± 28 versus 90. ± 16; P < 0.05).ConclusionsSevere sepsis or septic shock can result in significant negative effects on the quality of life, in addition to reducing long-term survival probability.

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