Associations of the serum albumin concentration and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score at discharge with 1-year mortality in sepsis survivors: A retrospective cohort study

Abstract Background This study was performed to investigate the predictors of 1-year mortality at discharge in sepsis survivors.Methods This study was a retrospective analysis of patients with sepsis and septic shock at a single centre. Patients who survived hospitalization for sepsis or septic shock from January 2016 to December 2017 were included. Age; sex; body mass index (BMI); laboratory results such as blood cell count, C-reactive protein (CRP) and albumin; and the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score at the time of discharge were compared between survivors and nonsurvivors at 1 year postdischarge. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify the predictors of 1-year mortality.Results During the study period, 725 survivors were included in the analysis, of whom 64 (8.8%) died within the first year. Nonsurvivors were older and had a lower BMI and higher SOFA score at discharge than survivors (P < 0.05). Among the laboratory results at discharge, haemoglobin, platelet counts and albumin concentrations were lower in the nonsurvivors than in the survivors, whereas CRP was higher in the nonsurvivors than in the survivors. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, serum albumin < 2.5 mg/dl and a SOFA score ≥ 2 at discharge were identified as independent prognostic factors for 1-year mortality (odds ratio 2.698, 95% confidential interval 1.488-4.883 for albumin < 2.5 mg/dl and 2.114, 1.204-3.814 for SOFA score ≥ 2, respectively).Conclusions A low serum albumin concentration of < 2.5 mg/dL and high SOFA score of ≥ 2 at the time of discharge were prognostic factors for 1-year mortality in sepsis survivors.