{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,11]],"date-time":"2026-10-11T13:50:19Z","timestamp":1791726619813,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,6]],"date-time":"2026-07-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783296000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":5,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Sepsis is a leading cause of mortality in older adults, but large unselected cohort data on factors associated with mortality remain limited.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To examine patient characteristics and acute illness features associated with mortality among older patients hospitalised with sepsis in Germany.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We conducted a retrospective, observational cohort study using statutory health insurance data (AOK) of patients aged \u226570\u00a0years and hospitalised with sepsis between 2016 and 2019. Outcomes were in-hospital and 90-day post-discharge mortality. Multivariate blockwise logistic regression models were applied to examine associations across conceptual domains.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Of 227\u00a0110 older sepsis patients [median age, 81\u00a0years (IQR 76\u201385); 49.2% women], in-hospital mortality was 35.2%. Organ dysfunction, particularly hepatic and renal dysfunction, as well as receipt of organ support including mechanical ventilation and dialysis, showed strong associations with in-hospital mortality. Among 147\u00a0080 patients discharged alive, 19.5% died within 90\u00a0days. In this post-discharge phase, care dependency and metastatic cancer showed stronger associations with mortality, whereas associations with acute illness features were lower. Female sex was independently associated with lower mortality and conferred a survival advantage after discharge.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The high mortality rate of older sepsis patients is associated with both baseline patient vulnerability and acute illness severity. Care dependency, used as a proxy for functional vulnerability overlapping with frailty, showed a strong association with mortality, particularly after discharge. These findings highlight the importance of integrating preexisting patient vulnerability and acute illness characteristics to guide individualised acute and post-discharge care for older sepsis patients.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1093\/ageing\/afag200","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,6]],"date-time":"2026-07-06T20:38:25Z","timestamp":1783370305000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Factors associated with mortality in older sepsis patients: a nationwide retrospective cohort study in Germany"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"55","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9997-2202","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Konstantin G","family":"Heimrich","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geriatrics, Jena University Hospital , Jena 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,","place":["Germany"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8157-2753","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mathias W","family":"Pletz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Infectious Diseases and Infectious Control, Jena University Hospital , Jena ,","place":["Germany"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5955-4142","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Thomas","family":"Ruhnke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Wissenschaftliches Institut der AOK , Berlin ,","place":["Germany"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1104-3191","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carolin","family":"Fleischmann-Struzek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Infectious Diseases and Infectious Control, Jena University Hospital , Jena 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