Sepsis Impact: Sepsis, an immunological overreaction to infection causing organ failure, leads to significant mortality and morbidity in Norway, with 3,000 deaths annually and affects individuals of all ages, not just the elderly.
Long-term Health Effects: Survivors of sepsis often face long-term health challenges, new chronic conditions, or exacerbation of existing ones, which can severely impact their daily activities and quality of life.
Return to Work Study in Norway: Researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and Nord University studied 36,000 sepsis patients to determine their return-to-work rate after hospital discharge, finding that only about 63% returned to work after two years.
Factors Influencing Return to Work: Younger individuals, those with fewer chronic conditions, and patients with less organ failure had higher rates of returning to work. Intensive care patients and those with multiple organ failures were less likely to resume employment.
Comparative Recovery of COVID-19 Sepsis Patients: Patients who developed sepsis as a complication of COVID-19 were 31% more likely to return to work compared to other sepsis patients.
No Progress Over Time: Data from 2010 to 2021 showed no improvement in the rate of sepsis patients returning to work in Norway, with a noted decline in the percentage of people working two years post-discharge between 2016 and 2019.
