OBJECTIVES : The disease burden of sepsis is a globally critical issue, but the specific epidemiological burden of sepsis in the Chinese population is still not clear. This study aimed to investigate the epidemiological burden in the Chinese population through a focused literature review and analysis of preliminary data.

METHODS : PubMed, ScienceDirect, Cochrane library, China National Knowledge Internet (CNKI) and WanFang Data was executed using key terminologies for the timeframe 2000 to 2017. In addition, key articles outside the analytical framework were added by the Becton Dickinson (BD) internal GVD. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied during the initial screening process, eliminating studies with key outcomes other than sepsis epidemiology. The epidemiological burden examined included morbidity and mortality.

RESULTS : The initial review identified 2867 articles written in English and Chinese, and 3 additional articles were contributed by the BD internal GVD. 2717 articles with key outcomes other than sepsis epidemiology were excluded before full-text examination. Ultimately, 11 articles met inclusion criteria with data available for extraction, while the remaining 139 did not. Among the general population in China, the morbidity of sepsis and severe sepsis were between 4.51%-38.90% and 2.50%-37.30%, the average 28-day mortality of sepsis and severe sepsis was 26.35% and 55.71%, and the average hospital mortality of severe sepsis was 41.10%. Outliers included the neonatal and pediatric population. Definitions of sepsis also varied between studies. One study published in 2007 showed that the mean hospital cost was $11,390 per patient with severe sepsis in China. Early identification of sepsis was essential to improve this burden.

CONCLUSIONS : Our results indicated that sepsis is also a common and frequently fatal syndrome in the Chinese population. Understanding the true burden of sepsis can help raise public awareness, and can also help guide resource allocation for sepsis prevention and outcome improvement.