Association between comorbidities at ICU admission and post-Sepsis physical impairment: A retrospective cohort study

Few studies have measured the association between pre-existing comorbidities and post-sepsis physical impairment. The study aimed to estimate the risk of physical impairment at hospital discharge among sepsis patients, adjusting for pre-existing physical impairment prior to ICU admission and in-hospital mortality.

We analyzed all consecutive adult patients admitted to an ICU in a tertiary community hospital, Kameda Medical Center, with sepsis diagnosis from September 2014 to October 2020. Inverse probability attrition weighting using machine learning was employed to estimate the risk of physical impairment at hospital discharge for sepsis patients with and without pre-existing comorbidities at ICU admission. This estimation was adjusted for baseline covariates, pre-ICU physical impairment, and in-hospital mortality.

Of 889 sepsis patients analyzed, 668 [75.1%] had at least one comorbidity and 221 [24.9%] had no comorbidities at ICU admission. Upon adjusting for baseline covariates, pre-ICU physical impairment, and in-hospital mortality, pre-existing comorbidities were not associated with an elevated risk of physical impairment at hospital discharge (RR: 1.02, 95% CI: 0.92, 1.14).

Pre-existing comorbidities prior to ICU admission were not associated with an increased risk of physical impairment at hospital discharge among sepsis patients after adjusting for baseline covariates and in-hospital mortality.