The Old Man's Friend No More: Disability and Cognitive Decline After Acute Infection

Abstract: It is sometimes suggested that infectious diseases are "solved problems" in the developed world. Yet at the same time hospital statistics report complex infections, known as sepsis, as the single most expensive (in aggregate) cause of hospitalization. In this presentation I will present data on the continued importance of infections as proximal causes of death among older Americans; examine person-specific longitudinal data showing the extent to which sepsis is associated with a acute worsening in individual trajectories of function among survivors; and the consequent growing population burden of post-sepsis "survivorship" -- enduring disability and cognitive impairment among the majority of patients who survive these acute hospitalization. Lying behind all this is an argument for demographers to bring their talents to bear on disentangling the long-term consequences of acute health shocks, as those acute health shocks may be particularly amenable to interventions to prevent enduring morbidity.