Nursing Home Sepsis May Permanently Impair Cognitive Function

Your loved one became sick from sepsis while a resident at a Texas nursing home. You were worried; for a while, you weren’t sure she’d survive. Thankfully, she did; however she hasn’t been the same since. Was the ordeal too much?
Researchers from the University of Michigan Medical School have found that patients over age 65 years who contract severe sepsis are at a high risk for long-term cognitive and physical problems. The study included 1,194 individuals who had been hospitalized for severe sepsis and 9,223 additional participants who were tested for cognitive and physical functioning when the study began. Of these participants, 516 survived a severe sepsis episode, and 4,517 were hospitalized with a non-sepsis event. The average participant age at hospitalization was 76.9 years.
The authors found that participants who survived severe sepsis were 3.3 times more likely than other hospitalized participants to acquire moderate to severe cognitive impairment. In some cases, the cognitive impairment was so severe that it resembled dementia. There was no increase in cognitive impairment in participants hospitalized for non-sepsis conditions.  The authors believe that severe sepsis among the elderly may cause up to 20,000 new cases of moderate to severe cognitive impairment each year.
The study also found that approximately 1.5 new functional limitations were acquired with each episode of sepsis.
In 2008, 1,141,000 Americans were hospitalized with sepsis. Seventeen percent died. Most of these were adults over age 65. Because of the high risk of death, physical disability, and cognitive impairment from sepsis, it is important that nursing homes take precautions to prevent sepsis from occurring. Unfortunately, too many Texas nursing homes take short cuts with hygiene and wound care.
If your loved one contracted sepsis in a nursing home, you may have a Texas nursing home negligence claim. To learn more, request a free copy of Warning Signs of Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse, or contact the Dallas nursing home neglect attorneys at the Rasansky Law Firm at (214) 651-6100.