Objective To explore the predictive value of the red blood cell distribution width to platelet count ratio (RPR) at admission for the short-term prognosis of adult patients with sepsis. Methods A retrospective cohort study design was adopted, and adult patients with sepsis who met the Sepsis 3.0 diagnostic criteria and were admitted to the intensive care unit of The Sixth People's Hospital of Huizhou in Guangdong Province from January 2021 to December 2023 were consecutively enrolled. Patients were divided into the survival group or the death group according to their 28-day prognosis after ICU admission. Clinical data of the two groups within 24 hours of admission were collected. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to screen for independent predictors of death within 28 days, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the predictive value of RPR and traditional criticalillness scores (Sequential Organ Failure Assessment [SOFA] score, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation Ⅱ [APACHE Ⅱ] score). Results A total of 132 patients were included, with 37 cases (28.0%) dying within 28 days. Compared with the survival group (n=95), patients in the death group (n=37) were older, had higher RPR, SOFA score, and APACHE Ⅱ score, and lower platelet counts (all P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that after adjusting for age and disease severity, RPR remained an independent predictor of death within 28 days (OR=6.18, 95% CI: 1.72-22.10, P=0.006). ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of RPR for predicting death within 28 days was 0.75 (95% CI: 0.73-0.89), which was similar to that of the SOFA score (AUC=0.76) and APACHE Ⅱ score (AUC=0.73). When the cut-off value of RPR was 0.12, its sensitivity was 83.8% and specificity was 72.6%. Conclusion RPR at admission is an independent predictor of short-term prognosis in adult sepsis patients, and its predictive value is comparable to that of traditional critical illness scores. RPR may serve as an effective auxiliary tool for early risk stratification of sepsis patients in the ICU.