Abstract
BackgroundSepsis morbidity and mortality rates have remained high despite recent developments in clinical guidelines aimed to curtail this disease process. Understanding how sepsis interacts with comorbidities and pre-existing disease states is necessary for improving sepsis treatment. Accounting for specific pre-existing conditions in the treatment of sepsis patients may not only improve patient outcomes but also reduce healthcare costs by preventing possible complications. We sought to evaluate whether the presence of hypothyroidism affects outcomes in septic patients.MethodsIn this retrospective observational study, we analyzed the patient dataset from a not-for-profit rural hospital from January 2019 through June 2020. We chose the initial patient sample based on International Classification of Disease (ICD10) codes for sepsis. We then used the ICD10 code for hypothyroidism within that sample to identify the septic patients with hypothyroidism. We did two-sample proportion summary hypothesis tests to identify differences in mortality and 30-day readmission rates.ResultsIn our dataset, we had 1,122 patients with sepsis, of whom 225 had hypothyroidism. There was no difference in sepsis outcomes between patients who had hypothyroidism compared to patients who did not have hypothyroidism. Additionally, we did not find sufficient evidence to conclude that the patient’s sex affects sepsis outcomes in hypothyroid patients. Conclusion Within this Midwest population, the sepsis outcomes were not impacted by having hypothyroidism as a secondary diagnosis. Additionally, there was no sufficient evidence to suggest an impact on sepsis outcomes based on sex, either male or female, when considering concomitant hypothyroidism.
Highlights
Hypothyroidism is defined as having a thyroid gland disorder that leads to a decreased synthesis of thyroid hormones [1]
There was no difference in sepsis outcomes between patients who had hypothyroidism compared to patients who did not have hypothyroidism
Our results suggest that sex, at least for our sample group, does not affect sepsis outcomes in patients with hypothyroidism
Summary
Hypothyroidism is defined as having a thyroid gland disorder that leads to a decreased synthesis of thyroid hormones [1]. It has been shown that females are more commonly affected than males, in the age groups 50-59 and 60-69 [2]. The clinical symptoms of hypothyroidism are non-specific and not helpful for diagnosis. Patients have complained of fatigue, weight gain, and hair loss, all of which can be symptoms of other diseases. Elderly patients tend to experience less severe symptoms [1,5]. Sepsis morbidity and mortality rates have remained high despite recent developments in clinical guidelines aimed to curtail this disease process. Accounting for specific pre-existing conditions in the treatment of sepsis patients may improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs by preventing possible complications. We sought to evaluate whether the presence of hypothyroidism affects outcomes in septic patients
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