Sepsis Accelerates Frailty and Functional Decline in Older Adults: A 12-Month Prospective Study

Sepsis Accelerates Frailty and Functional Decline in Older Adults: A 12-Month Prospective Study | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Sepsis Accelerates Frailty and Functional Decline in Older Adults: A 12-Month Prospective Study Ian López-Cruz, José Luis García-Giménez, Laura Piles, Judit Garcia, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7076462/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 30 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Internal and Emergency Medicine → Version 1 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Sepsis, a life-threatening infection-induced condition, is a leading cause of mortality worldwide, particularly among older adults. Survivors often experience long-term health complications, including decline in functional capacity, cognitive impairment and worsening of chronic comorbidities. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of sepsis on frailty and functional status over 12 months in patients with community acquired infections. 50 patients completed the follow-up and were analyzed: 24 in the sepsis group and 26 in the control group, matched by age, sex, and infection source. Functional status was assessed at baseline and 12 months using the Barthel Index, Lawton Scale, and FRAIL questionnaire. At 12 months, septic patients showed significant declines in both functional capacity and frailty. Specifically, there was a significant decline in functional independence as measured by the Lawton Scale, with 33.3% of septic patients exhibiting reduced ability in instrumental activities of daily living, compared to 11.7% in controls (p = 0.032). FRAIL scale showed significant worsening in the sepsis group (41.7% vs. 7.7%, p = 0.005). Notably, 33.3% of previously robust septic patients developed new frailty, compared to 0% in the control group (p = 0.025). The study also found a significant increase in comorbidity burden at 12 months, more pronounced in the sepsis group (p = 0.041). These results highlight the long-term impact of sepsis on functional capacity and frailty, emphasizing the need for targeted post-sepsis rehabilitation and management. Sepsis Frailty Functional capacity activities of daily living comorbidity long-term outcomes Full Text Supplementary Files COIManuelMadrazosigned.pdf COIallauthorsformLauraPilesfirmada.pdf COIallauthorsformAAM.pdf COIallauthorsformFVP.pdf COIallauthorsformILC.pdf COIallauthorsformJGG.pdf COIallauthorsformJLGG.pdf StatementsandDeclarations.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 30 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Internal and Emergency Medicine → Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Aug, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 17 Jul, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 16 Jul, 2025 First submitted to journal 15 Jul, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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