Health-related quality of life in sepsis survivors

Abstract

Objective: to identify the evidence available on the changes in health-related quality of life of patients who survived anepisode of sepsis. Methods: the LILACS, MEDLINE CINAHL Cochrane Library, Web of Science and Scopus databases wereused. Results: of the 1729 publications identified, 16 were included in the study. Patients who survived an episode of sepsispresented reduction in the quality of life when compared to the general population or to other groups of patients who hadan episode of severe illness, even after long periods following discharge from hospital, independently of the scale used, ofthe patients’ clinical characteristics, and their country of origin. The changes in the quality of life are mainly related to thephysical and mental aspects. Conclusion: knowledge of the changes in quality of life of patients who survived an episode ofsepsis demonstrates the need for long-term monitoring of these patients.