IMPORTANCESepsis survivorship is associated with postsepsis morbidity, but epidemiological data from population-based cohorts are lacking. OBJECTIVE To quantify the frequency and co-occurrence of new diagnoses consistent with postsepsis morbidity and mortality as well as new nursing care dependency and total health care costs after sepsis. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This retrospective cohort study based on nationwide health claims data included a population-based cohort of 23.0 million beneficiaries of a large German health insurance provider. Patients aged 15 years and older with incident hospital-treated sepsis in 2013 to 2014 were included. Data were analyzed from January 2009 to December 2017. EXPOSURES Sepsis, identified by International Statistical Classification of Diseases and RelatedHealth Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) hospital discharge codes. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURESNew medical, psychological, and cognitive diagnoses; longterm mortality; dependency on nursing care; and overall health care costs in survivors at 1 to 12, 13 to 24, and 25 to 36 months after hospital discharge. RESULTS Among 23.0 million eligible individuals, we identified 159 684 patients hospitalized with sepsis in 2013 to 2014. The mean (SD) age was 73.8 (12.8) years, and 75 809 (47.5%; 95% CI, 47.2%-47.7%) were female patients. In-hospital mortality was 27.0% (43 177 patients; 95% CI, 26.8%-27.3%). Among 116 507 hospital survivors, 86 578 (74.3%; 95% CI, 74.1%-74.6%) had a new diagnosis in the first year post sepsis; 28 405 (24.4%; 95% CI, 24.1%-24.6%) had diagnoses co-occurring in medical, psychological, or cognitive domains; and 23 572 of 74 878 survivors (31.5%; 95% CI, 31.1%-31.8%) without prior nursing care dependency were newly dependent on nursing care.

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Sepsis survival is associated with adverse outcomes. Knowledge about risk factors for adverse outcomes is lacking. We performed a population-based cohort study of 116,507 survivors of hospital-treated sepsis identified in health claims data of a German health insurance provider. We determined the development and risk factors for long-term adverse events: new dependency on chronic care, chronic dialysis, long-term respiratory support, and 12-month mortality. At-risk patients were defined by absence of these conditions prior to sepsis. Risk factors were identified using simple and multivariable logistic regression analyses. In the first year post-sepsis, 48.9% (56,957) of survivors had one or more adverse outcome, including new dependency on chronic care (31.9%), dialysis (2.8%) or respiratory support (1.6%), and death (30.7%). While pre-existing comorbidities adversely affected all studied outcomes (>4 comorbidities: OR 3.2 for chronic care, OR 4.9 for dialysis, OR 2.7 for respiratory support, OR 4.7 for 12-month mortality), increased age increased the odds for chronic care dependency and 12-month mortality, but not for dialysis or respiratory support. Hospital-acquired and multi-resistant infections were associated with increased risk of chronic care dependency, dialysis, and 12-month mortality. Multi-resistant infections also increased the odds of respiratory support. Urinary or respiratory infections or organ dysfunction increased the odds of new dialysis or respiratory support, respectively. Central nervous system infection and organ dysfunction had the highest OR for chronic care dependency among all infections and organ dysfunctions. Our results imply that patient- and infection-related factors have a differential impact on adverse life changing outcomes after sepsis. There is an urgent need for targeted interventions to reduce the risk.

ZusammenfassungHunderttausende Menschen mit Sepsis- und Infektionsfolgen werden derzeit in Deutschland nicht optimal versorgt. Dieses White Paper stellt Maßnahmen zur Verbesserung der Versorgung vor, die von einer multidisziplinären Expertengruppe im Rahmen des Innovationsfonds-Projektes SEPFROK erarbeitet wurden. Eine optimale Versorgung beruht auf 4 Säulen: 1. der sektorenübergreifenden Erfassung der Folgen und einem strukturierten Entlass- und Überleitungsmanagement, 2. einem gezielten Angebot von interdisziplinärer Rehabilitation- und Nachsorge mit struktureller Unterstützung, 3. der Stärkung der spezifischen Gesundheitskompetenz von Betroffenen und Angehörigen und 4. der Intensivierung der Forschung zu Ursachen, Prävention und Therapie der Folgen. Hierfür müssen entsprechende sektorenübergreifende Versorgungsstrukturen und sozialrechtliche Rahmenbedingungen geschaffen werden.

Influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations are recommended in the elderly to reduce life-threatening complications like sepsis. Protection may be reduced with increasing age. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of both vaccines in the elderly by performing a retrospective cohort study of 138,877 individuals aged ≥60 y in Germany, who were insured in a large statutory health insurance (AOK PLUS). We used longitudinal claims data to classify individuals according to vaccination status 2008–2014, and assessed vaccine effectiveness (VE) in 2015 and 2016. Inverse probability weighting based on generalized propensity scores was used to adjust for systematic between-group differences. Influenza vaccination was associated with a reduction of hospital treatment in laboratory-confirmed influenza in 2015 (VE = 41.32 [95%CI 0.85, 65.26]), but had no significant impact on the overall influenza incidence. Complications of influenza (pneumonia and sepsis) were reduced in 2016. We found a rise in influenza-like illness and acute respiratory infections in both years and an increased 90-d mortality after hospital-treated pneumonia in vaccinees in 2015. Pneumococcal vaccination was effective in preventing hospital-treated pneumonia within the first and second year after vaccination (VE = 52.45 [13.31, 73.92] and 46.04 [5.46, 69.21], respectively), but had no impact on sepsis incidence or pneumonia mortality. Influenza and pneumococcal vaccination can prevent severe complications from influenza and hospital-treated pneumonia in the elderly, respectively. Vaccine effects differ between years and seasons and are partly difficult to interpret. Despite extensive efforts to adjust for between-group differences, residual bias cannot be ruled out, possibly explaining signals like increased ILI or pneumonia mortality.