Sepsis and septic shock are common life-threatening conditions associated with high mortality globally. Compliance with the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s Hour-1 Bundle for sepsis management has the potential to improve outcomes, but the bundle is infrequently applied in resource-constrained settings. We assessed level of compliance with the Hour-1 bundle among patients diagnosed with sepsis and septic shock at the Accident and Emergency Department (AED) or Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of University Teaching Hospital of Butare, Rwanda. We conducted training for nurses and doctors in the AED and ICU, with the goal of improving compliance. We re-assessed bundle compliance one month after the training. We used univariate and multivariate analyses to evaluate the association of compliance and fluid resuscitation with hospital mortality while adjusting for severity of illness and other covariates. Our finding showed that seventy-eight patients were enrolled pre-intervention, and 82 post-intervention. The overall compliance with ≥ 4 elements of the Hour-1 bundle before the intervention was 14%, and was 76% after the intervention (p< 0.001). Non-survivors had a significantly lower bundle compliance than survivors (35% vs 80%; adjusted OR 0.1, 95% CI 0.05-0.6; p=0.009). Administered fluids ≥ 2 liters during the first hour was independently associated with higher mortality (adjusted OR 18.0, 95% CI 4.5-71.8; p<0.001). These finding suggest that compliance with the Hour-1 sepsis bundle in a resource-constrained setting can be improved with training, and is associated with increased hospital survival. Very liberal fluid resuscitation (≥ 2 liters) in the first hour was independently associated with increased mortality, although bundle-compliant resuscitation was not. Further work is needed, both to implement sepsis bundles in resource-constrained settings, and to ensure that all bundle elements are effective in these settings, and precisely implemented.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

This work was supported by University Teaching Hospital of Butare from institutional research funds.

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