Article One
The article titled “Prevalence, underlying causes, and preventability of sepsis-associated mortality in U.S. acute care hospitals” was written by several researchers investigating the consequences of sepsis. Annually sepsis contributes to thousands of deaths in the United States as in up to 50% of cases, it culminates in death (Rhee et al., 2019). The research aimed to identify the prevalence of sepsis, disclose the underlying causes, and analyze if it can be prevented in acute care hospitals. Hence, it is vital to indicate if the article answered the posed questions.
Since sepsis remains an understudied phenomenon leading to fatal outcomes in acute care hospitals, the article pursued analyzing the possibility of its prevention. In addition, the researchers attempted to evaluate the prevalence of deaths from sepsis across the U.S. (Rhee et al., 2019). The primary idea of the investigation is that it is barely possible to implement a better cure to treat sepsis unless the primary causes of its emergence are verified.
The results of the study proved that sepsis remains the primary cause of death in many hospitalizations. 198 out of 300 hospitalization cases were fatal; the primary factor leading to lethal outcomes was cancer (Rhee et al., 2019). According to Rhee et al. (2019), “only 11 sepsis-associated deaths (3.7%) were judged definitely or moderately likely preventable; another 25 sepsis-associated deaths (8.3%) were considered possibly preventable” (p. 1). The possibility of prevention depended on multiple factors, including the concurrent disease, the severity of sepsis, the availability of medical staff on-site, and some others.
The primary article’s strength is that it investigated the underlying cases, provided statistics, and disclosed the circumstances when prevention of sepsis is possible. However, it did not disclose the primary factor affecting prevention and did not specify if special treatment can mitigate the consequences. The study can be applied to my practice to identify the causes leading to sepsis and indicate prevention measures while working with such patients.
Article Two
The second article related to the topic is titled “Mortality after severe sepsis and septic shock in Swedish intensive care units 2008-2016 – a nationwide observational study.” The primary goal of any healthcare system is to improve the quality of medical services provision each year (Healthy people 2020, 2020). The researchers aimed to investigate if sepsis mortality rate, the demographics of patients, and comorbidities altered from 2008 to 2016 and how the last two factors were related to death (Strandberg et al., 2020). The data retrieved from the databases were used as material for comparison.
As a result of the study, the researchers established no substantial changes within the chosen period. As Strandberg et al. (2020) note, “non-surgical admission had higher odds of mortality than surgical admissions; female patients had higher odds of mortality compared to males; invasive ventilation and RRT was associated with increased odds of death” (p. 971). Therefore, the outcomes of the study prove that even though the differences are insignificant, there is still a chance one group or factor is likely to affect sepsis development.
The major strength of this study refers to the in-depth numerical analysis, which discloses the diseases, age, sex, and other features of groups exposed to sepsis. On the other hand, it does not indicate the prevention measures and mainly focuses on statistics. The results of the comparative observational study can be further used in practice to compare with other years or even countries’ sepsis mortality rates. In addition, this research has contributed significantly to the disclosure of demographic and medical conditions most likely to influence sepsis emergence and spread.
References
Healthy people 2020. (2020). CDC. Web.
Rhee, C., Jones, T., Hamad, Y., Pande, A., Varon, J., O’Brein, C., Anderson, D., Warren, D., Dantes, R., Epstein, L., & Klompas, M. (2019). Prevalence, underlying causes, and preventability of sepsis-associated mortality in US acute care hospitals. JAMA Network Open, 2(2), 1-14. Web.
Strandberg, G., Walther, S., Agvald Öhman, C., & Lipcsey, M. (2020). Mortality after severe sepsis and septic shock in Swedish intensive care units 2008-2016 – a nationwide observational study. Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica, 64, 967- 975. Web.