External factors that put individuals at risk for contracting sepsis have only recently become a topic of study and further research on this topic is vital in the prevention of sepsis mortality. In this paper I analyze the relationships between area deprivation and sepsis mortality, rurality and sepsis mortality, and the relationship between area deprivation, rurality, and sepsis mortality with rurality as the moderating variable. I used data from the CDC Compressed Mortality File, 2013 Area Deprivation Index, and the 2013 Rural Urban Continuum Codes to perform simple and multiple linear regression analyses of the topic. High levels of area deprivation are a statistically significant predictor for high levels of sepsis mortality in Louisiana’s parishes. Though rurality did not ultimately show a significant impact on sepsis mortality rates, certain disadvantages faced by those in rural areas should be considered in future sepsis research.

• Murphy, Kayla. 2018. “Area Deprivation, Rurality, and Sepsis Mortality: What’s the Relationship?”

Kayla Murphy majored in sociology at Temple, class of 2018. She is interested in health disparities in rural communities. In her independent research she examined the relationship between external factors and sepsis mortality rates, particularly those in rural areas. In 2019, she began working as a Field Research Specialist with the All of  Us Research Program at Lewis Katz School of Medicine.