Center for Empirical Research in Economics and Behavioral Sciences, Department of Social Media and Communication Sciences, University of Erfurt, Nordhaeuser Strasse 63, 99089, Erfurt, Germany.
Integrated Research and Treatment Center for Sepsis Control and Care (CSCC), Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.
Crit Care. 2018 Oct 28;22(1):273. doi: 10.1186/s13054-018-2208-5.
Sepsis is a life-threatening medical emergency requiring early diagnosis and urgent treatment. Knowledge is crucial, especially in major risk groups such as the elderly. We therefore assessed sophisticated knowledge about sepsis in the German elderly population.
A telephone survey was carried out with a representative sample of 701 Germans from 16 federal states and a separate cohort of 700 participants from Thuringia, all aged ≥ 60 years. Sepsis knowledge was assessed via a 10-item questionnaire. Sociodemographic data and health information sources were assessed to identify determinants of sepsis knowledge.
Of the participants, 88.6% had heard the term "sepsis" before; however, 50% of these failed to define sepsis correctly. Even if the knowledge of symptoms was moderately good, most participants could not correctly identify causes of sepsis and underestimated its incidence. Only a minority was aware that immunization may prevent sepsis. Regressions revealed that being younger, better educated and living in rural areas predicted higher levels of sepsis knowledge. Pharmacists were a relevant source of sepsis information.
Despite overall awareness of sepsis, the understanding of its risk factors, symptoms and prevention is low in the elderly, with important implications for emergency and intensive care. We suggest further educational measures to improve early sepsis recognition and prevention through vaccination.
败血症是一种危及生命的紧急医疗状况，需要及早诊断和紧急治疗。知识是至关重要的，尤其是在老年人等高危人群中。因此，我们评估了德国老年人群中对败血症的复杂知识。
通过电话调查对来自 16 个联邦州的 701 名德国人和来自图林根州的 700 名独立参与者进行了一项具有代表性的调查，所有参与者的年龄均≥60 岁。通过一个 10 项问题的问卷评估了败血症知识。评估了社会人口统计学数据和健康信息来源，以确定败血症知识的决定因素。
参与者中有 88.6%以前听说过“败血症”一词；然而，其中有 50%的人无法正确定义败血症。即使对症状的了解程度适中，大多数参与者仍无法正确识别败血症的病因，并低估了其发病率。只有少数人知道免疫接种可能预防败血症。回归分析显示，年龄较小、教育程度较高和居住在农村地区的人败血症知识水平较高。药剂师是败血症信息的一个重要来源。
尽管对败血症有总体认识，但老年人对其危险因素、症状和预防的理解程度较低，这对急诊和重症监护有重要影响。我们建议采取进一步的教育措施，通过接种疫苗提高对早期败血症的识别和预防。
