Trends in sepsis incidence and outcomes among people with or without type 2 diabetes mellitus in Spain (2008–2012)

• The annual incidence of sepsis increased during the 2008–2012 period in Spain.
• The increase in sepsis incidence was higher for people with type 2 diabetes.
• In-hospital mortality decreased over time for people with and without diabetes.
• Type 2 diabetes was associated with a slightly lower in-hospital mortality.

AimsThere is conflicting evidence on how type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) influences in-hospital mortality (IHM) in sepsis. We aimed to compare trends in outcomes for sepsis in people with or without T2DM in Spain between 2008 and 2012.MethodsWe identified all cases with any sepsis diagnosis using national hospital discharge data. We evaluated annual incidence rates for sepsis stratified by T2DM status. We calculated IHM and analyzed trends over time. In a multivariate analysis including potential confounding factors, we tested T2DM as an independent factor for IHM.ResultsOverall, 217,280 cases of any-stage sepsis were diagnosed, of whom 50,611 (23.3%) had T2DM. The annual incidence of sepsis increased during the 5-year period (from 76.5 to 113.3 cases/105 population). The incidence increase was higher for the population with T2DM (from 16.8 to 27.1 cases/105 population; 61.3% relative increment). People with T2DM were significantly older (75.8 ± 11.2 years vs. 71.0 ± 16.4 years) and suffered from more coexisting medical conditions. In the univariate analysis, mortality was higher for the population with T2DM only when septic shock was present (53.3% vs. 51.9%; P = 0.002). IHM decreased over time both in participants with (from 45.7% to 38.1%) and without T2DM (from 46.1% to 39.5%). After accounting for all other potential confounders, T2DM was significantly associated with a lower IHM (odds ratio = 0.88; 95% confidence interval, 0.86–0.90).ConclusionsIn Spain, the annual increase in sepsis incidence was higher in people with T2DM, but the risk of dying with sepsis during admission was moderately lower in people with T2DM.