Quality of Life of Severe Sepsis Survivors After Hospital Discharge1

Aims: to evaluate the quality of life in severe sepsis survivors, using specific QoL questionnaires: the EuroQol-5 Dimensions and the Visual Analogue Scale (EQ-VAS). Method: This case-control study was performed in patients discharged from a teaching hospital after being admitted to the ICU with severe sepsis. Medical records from 349 patients were retrieved from the hospital sepsis registry. Each patient with sepsis was considered as a case. Patients who were admitted immediately after the sepsis episode were considered as controls, provided that they did not have sepsis and survived the ICU admission. This specific study population included 100 patients. Results: The sepsis group showed higher mortality at 1 year compared with critically ill patients. However, the control group showed no sepsis. Older patients (>60 years) in the sepsis group had a significantly higher prevalence of problems. There were no differences in EQ-VAS between respondents from both groups. Conclusions: After discharge from ICU, sepsis survivors of sepsis had a higher mortality rate than critically ill patients without sepsis. Older patients with sepsis had more moderate and severe problems in all five quality of life dimensions evaluated.