Sepsis in Haiti: Prevalence, treatment, and outcomes in a Port-au-Prince referral hospital.

Purpose: Developing countries carry the greatest burden of sepsis, yet few descriptive data exist from the Western Hemisphere. We conducted a retrospective cohort study to elucidate the presentation, treatment, and outcomes of sepsis at an urban referral hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Materials and Methods: We studied all adult emergency department patient encounters from January through March 2012. We characterized presentation, management, and outcomes using univariable and multivariable analyses.
Results: Of 1078 adult patients, 224 (20.8%) had sepsis and 99 (9.2%) had severe sepsis. In-hospital mortality for severe sepsis was 24.2%. Encephalopathy was a predictor of intravenous fluid administration (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 5.63; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.46-21.76; P=.01), and lower blood pressures predicted shorter time to fluid administration. Increasing temperature and lower blood pressures predicted antibiotic administration. Encephalopathy at presentation (adjusted OR, 6.92; 95% CI, 1.94-24.64; P=.003), oxygen administration (adjusted OR, 15.96; 95% CI, 3.05-83.59; P=.001), and stool microscopy (adjusted OR, 45.84; 95% CI, 1.43-1469.34; P=.03) predicted death in severe sepsis patients.
Conclusions: This is the first descriptive study of sepsis in Haiti. Our findings contribute to the knowledge base of global sepsis and reveal similarities in independent predictors of mortality between high- and low-income countries.
(Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)