In a large cohort study of 55,038 adults hospitalized with sepsis, short-term mortality (death or hospice) was lower in overweight and obese patients compared with those with normal body mass indices (both unadjusted and adjusted analyses). These findings highlight the need for well-conducted prospective clinical trials that assess obesity’s impact on survival in sepsis. Previous observational studies suggest obesity is associated with sepsis survival, but these studies are small, fail to adjust for key confounders, measure body mass index (BMI) at inconsistent time points, and/or use administrative data to define sepsis. In contrast, the current study used detailed clinical, laboratory, and physiologic data to strengthen the finding that obesity is independently associated with improved short-term survival in adults with sepsis.

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