Socio-demographic Characteristics Associated with Hospitalization for Sepsis among Adults in Canada: a Census-linked Cohort Study

PURPOSE:Sepsis is a considerable health system burden. Population-based epidemiological surveillance of sepsis is limited to basic data available in administrative databases. We sought to determine if routinely collected Census data, linked to hospitalization data, can provide a broad socio-demographic profile of patients admitted to Canadian hospitals with sepsis.METHODS:Linking the 2006 long-form Canadian Census (most recent available for linkage) to the Discharge Abstract Data from 2006/2007 to 2008/2009, we created a population-based cohort of approximately 3,433,900 Canadians. Patients admitted to hospital with sepsis were identified using the Canadian Institute for Health Information administrative data definition. Age-standardized hospital admission rates for sepsis were calculated. Multivariable modelling was used to examine the relationship between Census characteristics and hospitalization with sepsis.RESULTS:Of those individuals successfully linked to the 2006 long-form Canadian Census, 10,400 patients of 18 yr and older were admitted to hospital with sepsis between the fiscal years 2006/2007 and 2008/2009. These individuals represented a weighted count of approximately 49,000 Canadians from all provinces and territories, excluding Quebec. The age-standardized rate of sepsis hospitalization was 96 cases/100,000 population. Of these, 37/100,000 cases were classified as severe sepsis. The association of Census characteristics with sepsis hospitalization varied with age. In all age-specific models, male sex, never being married, visible minority status, having functional limitations, and not being in the labour force were associated with an increased odds of hospital admission.CONCLUSIONS:Census data identified broad socio-demographic risk factors for admission to hospital with sepsis. Consideration should be given to incorporating Census data linked to administrative hospital data in population-based epidemiologic surveillance.