Defining Sepsis Mortality Clusters in the United States

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Geospatial Analysis

Background:

• Sepsis is a leading cause of death in the U.S., with over 200,000 fatalities annually.
• Identifying geographic disparities in sepsis mortality is crucial for targeted public health interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To map U.S. counties with high sepsis mortality rates.
• To investigate community characteristics associated with elevated sepsis mortality.

Main Methods:

• Descriptive analysis of U.S. mortality data (2003-2012).
• Geospatial autocorrelation to identify sepsis mortality clusters.
• Logistic regression to assess associations between clustered sepsis mortality and community factors.

Main Results:

• Sepsis mortality rates were highest in the Southern U.S., forming clusters in the Mississippi Valley, Middle Georgia, and Central Appalachia.
• Counties with strongly clustered sepsis mortality had significantly lower education, higher poverty, and higher uninsured rates.
• Age-adjusted sepsis mortality was 93.1 deaths per 100,000 in strongly clustered counties, compared to the national average.

Conclusions:

• High sepsis mortality is geographically concentrated in specific U.S. regions.
• Socioeconomic factors like education, income, and insurance coverage are strongly associated with increased sepsis mortality in these clustered regions.