Table 1.

Characteristics of patients and spouse dyads comprising severe sepsis hospitalizations

Variables	n = 1,212
Panel A: Patient characteristics (baselinea and severe sepsis episode clinical factors)
Age (years)	73.4 (8.3)
Male	790 (65.2%)
Race
White	996 (82.2%)
Black	194 (16.0%)
Other	22 (1.8%)
Highest level of education
High school diploma or less	1,050 (86.6%)
Two or four year college degree	97 (8.0%)
Master’s or professional degree	65 (5.4%)
Employed	137 (11.3%)
Alcohol use (days/week)	0.9 (2.0)
Smoking Status
Never smoked	350 (28.9%)
Former smoker	702 (57.9%)
Current smoker	160 (13.2%)
ADL impairments	1.6 (2.1)
Severe sepsis episode clinical factors
Hospital length of stay (days)	12.1 (12.8)
Organ Dysfunction Score	1.3 (0.6)
Cardiovascular dysfunction	304 (25.1%)
Neurologic dysfunction	104 (8.6%)
Hematologic dysfunction	224 (18.5%)
Hepatic dysfunction	13 (1.1%)
Renal dysfunction	494 (40.8%)
Respiratory dysfunction	370 (30.5%)
Died during severe sepsis hospitalization	265 (21.9%)
More than one distinct sepsis hospitalization	284 (23.4%)
Panel B: Spouse baseline characteristicsa
Age (years)	71.3 (9.5)
Female	791 (65.3%)
Race
White	1,000 (82.5%)
Black	189 (15.6%)
Other	23 (1.9%)
Highest level of education
High school diploma or less	1,045 (86.2%)
Two or four year college degree	122 (10.1%)
Master’s or professional degree	45 (3.7%)
Employed	242 (20.0%)
Alcohol use (days/week)	0.8 (1.8)
Smoking Status
Never smoked	548 (45.2%)
Former smoker	453 (37.4%)
Current smoker	211 (17.4%)
Elixhauser chronic medical conditions15
Congestive heart failure	48 (4.0%)
Diabetes mellitus	84 (6.9%)
Chronic pulmonary disease	81 (6.7%)
Peripheral vascular disease	44 (3.6%)
Neurologic disorders	98 (8.1%)
Cancer	30 (2.5%)
Collagen vascular disease	36 (3.0%)
ADL impairments	0.6 (1.3)

All values are mean ± SD or n (%) unless otherwise indicated.

Abbreviations: ADL = Activities of Daily Living.

^aPatient and spouse baseline characteristics are from the last HRS interview before the severe sepsis hospitalization.