Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Recent studies indicate that death certificate-based single-cause-of-death diagnoses can substantially underestimate the contribution of sepsis to mortality in the general population and among maternal decedents. There are no population-based data in the United States on the patterns of the contribution of sepsis to pregnancy-associated deaths. METHODS: We studied the Texas Inpatient Public Use Data File to identify pregnancy-associated hospitalizations with reported hospital death during 2001-2010. We then examined the annual reporting of sepsis, and that of other reported most common causes of maternal death, including hemorrhage, embolism, preeclampsia/eclampsia, cardiovascular conditions, cardiomyopathy, cerebrovascular accidents, and anesthesia complications. The annual rate of sepsis among decedents, its trend over time, and changes of its annual rank among other examined potential causes of maternal death were assessed. RESULTS: There were 557 pregnancy-associated hospital deaths during study period. Sepsis was reported in 131 (23.5%) decedents. Sepsis has been increasingly reported among decedents, rising by 9.1%/year (P = 0.0025). The rank of sepsis, as compared to the other examined potential causes of maternal death rose from the 5th in 2001 to 1st since 2008. At the end of the last decade, sepsis has been reported in 28.1% of pregnancy-associated deaths. More than one potential cause of maternal death was reported in 39% of decedents. CONCLUSION: Sepsis has become the most commonly reported potential cause of death among maternal decedents in the present cohort, noted in over 1 in 4 fatal hospitalizations by the end of the last decade. Although causality cannot be inferred from administrative data, given its known contribution to maternal death, it is likely that sepsis plays an increasing role in fatal maternal hospital outcomes. The prevalent co-reporting of multiple potential causes of maternal death in the present cohort underscores the complexity of determining the sources of evolving rise of maternal mortality.