Long term sepsis readmission, mortality and cause of death following Gram negative bloodstream infection: a propensity matched observational linkage study

Objectives: Understand the long-term mortality, risk of readmission for sepsis and cause of death following a gram-negative bloodstream infection (GN-BSI). Methods: This was a propensity-matched study using data linkage of Queensland hospital data, Australia. GN-BSIs were collected from 2005 to 2010 and matched 1:1 to hospital admissions without BSI for age, gender, year of culture collection, frequency of admissions in the prior year and Charlson-Deyo Comorbidity score and each comorbidity within the Charlson-Deyo score. Readmissions for sepsis, mortality and causes of death were evaluated. Results: Cases of GN-BSI were propensity-matched 1:1 to culture-negative hospital admissions (n = 14016). Readmissions for sepsis were higher in the GN-BSI cohort from 91 to 365 days (P