Search

Various data sources can be used to conduct research on critical illness and intensive care unit (ICU) use. Most published studies derive from randomized controlled trials, large-scale clinical databases, or retrospective chart reviews. However, few investigators have access to such data sources or possess the resources to create them. Hospital administrative data, also called health claims data, constitute an important alternative data source that can be used to address a broad range of research questions, including many that would be difficult to study in interventional studies. Such data often contain information that allows identification of ICU care, specific types of critical illness, and ICU-related procedures. The strengths of using administrative databases are that many are population-based, cover broad geographic regions, and are large enough to provide high statistical power and precise effect estimates. Linking hospital data to other databases regarding chronic care facilities, home care services, or rehabilitation services, for example, can expand the scope of research questions that can be answered. However, the limitations of administrative data must be recognized. They are not collected for research purposes; thus, data elements may vary in accuracy, and key clinical variables such as ICU-specific physiologic and laboratory data are usually lacking. Specific efforts should be made to validate the data elements used, as has been done in several world regions. As with any other research question, it is imperative that the analysis plan be carefully defined in advance and that appropriate attention be paid to potential sources of bias and confounding.

Objective: To evaluate whether the male predominance of older people admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) is due to gender differences in the presence of spouses, partners, or children; rates of gender-specific disease; or triage decisions made by health system personnel.Data Sources and Collection: Three population-based datasets, 2004-2012, of Canadians ≥65 years: provincial health care data from Manitoba (n = 250 190) and national data of nursing home residents (n = 133 982) and community-based homecare recipients (n = 210 090).Study Design: Retrospective observational study, using multivariable Cox proportional hazards and logistic regression.Principal Findings: Males predominated in ICU admissions: from Manitoba (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.87, 95% CI = 1.80-1.95), nursing homes (HR = 1.47, 1.35-1.60), and homecare (odds ratio = 1.14, 1.11-1.17). Adjustment for spouses, partners, and children did not attenuate this effect. The HR for gender was lower by 13.5 percent, relative, after excluding ICU care for cardiac causes. Male predominance was not present during a second ICU admission among survivors of a first ICU-containing hospitalization (HR = 1.07, 0.96-1.20).Conclusions: In three older cohorts, the male predominance of ICU admission was not explained by gender differences in the presence of a spouse, partner, or children, or cardiac disease rates. The third finding suggests that triage bias is unlikely to be responsible for the male predominance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: Accurately identifying use of life support in hospital administrative data enhances the data's value for quality improvement and research in critical illness.Objectives: To assess the accuracy of administrative hospital data for identifying invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV), acute renal replacement therapy (RRT), and intravenous vasoactive drugs in unselected adult intensive care unit (ICU) patients.Methods: We employed the administrative dataset of the Discharge Abstract Database from the Province of Manitoba during 2007-2012, using nationally standardized diagnosis and procedure codes to identify the three types of life support. The criterion standard was the Winnipeg ICU Database, which contains daily clinical information about all admissions to all 11 adult ICUs within the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. For all individuals aged 40 years or older at ICU admission, we calculated sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value of the administrative data for identifying life support. We also assessed the ability of the administrative data to identify overlapping use of the forms of life support.Results: Over the study period, there were 20,764 eligible ICU admissions; 52.6% (10,914) involved IMV, 46.8% (9,724) involved vasoactive agents, and 4.4% (907) involved acute RRT. Identification of IMV from administrative data procedure codes was good, with all four parameters exceeding 90%. The procedure code for use of selected vasoactive drugs had a sensitivity of zero; addition of diagnosis codes for shock raised the sensitivity to only 23% (95% confidence interval [CI], 22-24%). Both the sensitivity and specificity for acute RRT procedure codes exceeded 92%, but owing to low prevalence of RRT, the PPV was only 55% (95% CI, 53-58%). Addition of diagnosis codes for acute renal failure did not appreciably improve performance. Overlapping use of the three types of life support was substantial. Among those receiving any one of the types of life support, 68-76% received at least one of the two other types assessed. Considering use of any one or more of the three forms of life support, the administrative data had a PPV of 97% (95% CI, 96-97%) and a negative predictive value of 69% (95% CI, 68-70%).Conclusions: Administrative data accurately identify IMV but not use of vasoactive drugs or acute RRT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: Published studies suggest hospital costs on Day 1 in the intensive care unit (ICU) far exceed those of subsequent days, when costs are relatively stable. Yet, no study stratified patients by ICU type.Objectives: To determine whether daily cost patterns differ by ICU type.Methods: We performed a retrospective study of adults admitted to five ICUs (two surgical: quaternary surgical ICU [SICU quat] and quaternary cardiac surgical ICU [CSICU quat]; two medical: tertiary medical ICU [MICU tertiary] and quaternary medical ICU [MICU quat]; one general: community medical surgical ICU [MSICU comm]) at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York during 2013. After excluding costs clearly accrued outside the ICU, daily hospital costs were merged with clinical data. Patterns of daily unadjusted costs were evaluated in each ICU using median regression. Generalized estimating equations with first-order autocorrelation were used to identify factors independently associated with daily costs.Measurements and Main Results: Unadjusted daily costs were higher on Day 1 than on subsequent days only for surgical ICUs-SICU quat (median [interquartile range], $2,636 [$1,834-$4,282] on Day 1 vs. $1,840 [$1,501-$2,332] on Day 2; P < 0.001) and CSICU quat ($5,166 [$3,136-$9,493] on Day 1 vs. $2,060 [$1,336-$2,528] on Day 2; P < 0.001). In nonsurgical ICUs, there was no change (MICU tertiary P = 0.12) or a small increase (MSICU comm P = 0.03; MICU quat P = 0.01) in cost from Days 1 to 2. After multivariate adjustment, there remained a significant decrease in cost from ICU Day 1 to 2 in surgical units with statistically similar Day 1 and 2 costs for other ICUs.Conclusions: Higher Day 1 costs are not seen in patients admitted to medical/nonsurgical ICUs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Increasingly, very old patients are admitted to Intensive Care Units (ICUs). The objective of this study was to describe 12-month outcomes of these patients and determine which characteristics are associated with a return to baseline physical function 1 year later.Methods: In this prospective cohort study in 22 Canadian hospitals, we recruited 610 patients aged 80 years or older who were admitted to ICU for at least 24 h. At baseline, we completed a comprehensive geriatric assessment and followed patients to determine 12-month survival and physical function. Our primary outcome was physical recovery from critical illness at 12 months, defined as being alive with Short Form-36 physical function score of at least 10 points, and not 10 or more points below baseline. We used regression analysis to examine factors associated with physical recovery.Results: Patients were on average 84 years old (range 80-99). Mortality was 14% in ICU, 26% in hospital and 44% at 12 months after admission. Of 505 patients evaluable at 12 months, 26% achieved physical recovery. In the multivariable model, physical recovery was significantly associated with younger age, lower APACHE II score, lower Charlson comorbidity score, lower frailty index, lower baseline physical function score, and specific admission diagnoses.Conclusions: One-quarter of patients aged 80 years or older who are admitted to ICU survived and returned to baseline levels of physical function at 1 year. Routine assessment of baseline physical function and frailty status could aid in prognostication and informed decision-making for very old critically ill patients. (ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT01293708). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study conducted to describe perspectives of family members about care provided to patients who were aged 80 years or over in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) across Canada. Topics discussed include study procedure, statistical analysis of the study and results of the study, which reveal incongruity between family values and preferences for end-of-life care and actual care received for very elderly patients.

Background Improving the cost-effectiveness of health care requires an understanding of the genesis of health care costs and in particular the sources of cost variation. Little is known about how multiple physicians, caring collaboratively for patients, contribute to costs. Objective To explore the effect of collaborative care by physicians on variation in discretionary costs in an intensive care unit (ICU) by determining the contributions of the attending intensivists and ICU fellows. Methods Prospective, observational study using a multivariable model of median discretionary costs for the first day in the ICU, adjusting for confounding variables. Analysis included 3514 patients who spent more than 2 hours in the ICU on the initial day. Impact of the physicians was assessed via variables representing the specific intensivist and ICU fellow responsible on the first ICU day and allowing for interaction terms. Results On the initial day, patients spent a median of 10.6 hours (interquartile range, 6.3-16.5) in the ICU, with median discretionary costs of $1343 (interquartile range, $788-2208). There was large variation in adjusted costs attributable to both the intensivists ($359; 95% CI, $244-$474) and the fellows ($756; 95% CI, $550- $965). The interaction terms were not significant (P = .12-.79). Conclusions In an ICU care model with intensivists and subspecialty fellows, both types of physicians contributed significantly to the observed variation in discretionary costs. However, even in the presence of a hierarchical arrangement of clinical responsibilities, the influences on costs of the 2 types of physicians were independent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on an article by Harold W. Koenigsberg et al on the nature of affective instability in patients with personality disorders. Hypothesis that patients with borderline personality disorder have greater mood instability than patients with other personality disorders; Hypothesis regarding mood states.

Objective: To evaluate the association between consecutive days worked by intensivists and ICU patient outcomes.Design: Retrospective cohort study linked with survey data.Setting: Australia and New Zealand ICUs.Patients: Adults (16+ yr old) admitted to ICU in the Australia New Zealand Intensive Care Society Centre for Outcome and Resource Evaluation Registries (July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2018).Interventions: None.Measurements and Main Results: We linked data on staffing schedules for each unit from the Critical Care Resources Registry 2016-2017 annual survey with patient-level data from the Adult Patient Database. The a priori chosen primary outcome was ICU length of stay. Secondary outcomes included hospital length of stay, ICU readmissions, and mortality (ICU and hospital). We used multilevel multivariable regression modeling to assess the association between days of consecutive intensivist service and patient outcomes; the predicted probability of death was included as a covariate and individual ICU as a random effect. The cohort included 225,034 patients in 109 ICUs. Intensivists were scheduled for seven or more consecutive days in 43 (39.4%) ICUs; 27 (24.7%) scheduled intensivists for 5 days, 22 (20.1%) for 4 days, seven (6.4%) for 3 days, four (3.7%) for 2 days, and six (5.5%) for less than or equal to 1 day. Compared with care by intensivists working 7+ consecutive days (adjusted ICU length of stay = 2.85 d), care by an intensivist working 3 or fewer consecutive days was associated with shorter ICU length of stay (3 consecutive days: 0.46 d fewer, p = 0.010; 2 consecutive days: 0.77 d fewer, p < 0.001; ≤ 1 consecutive days: 0.68 d fewer, p < 0.001). Shorter schedules of consecutive intensivist days worked were also associated with trends toward shorter hospital length of stay without increases in ICU readmissions or hospital mortality.Conclusions: Care by intensivists working fewer consecutive days is associated with reduced ICU length of stay without negatively impacting mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of esophageal stimulation on nutritional adequacy in critically ill patients at risk for enteral feeding intolerance.Design: A multicenter randomized sham-controlled clinical trial.Setting: Twelve ICUs in Canada.Patients: We included mechanically ventilated ICU patients who were given moderate-to-high doses of opioids and expected to remain alive and ventilated for an additional 48 hours and who were receiving enteral nutrition or expected to start imminently.Interventions: Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 to esophageal stimulation via an esophageal stimulating catheter (E-Motion Tube; E-Motion Medical, Tel Aviv, Israel) or sham treatment. All patients were fed via these catheters using a standardized feeding protocol.Measurements and Main Results: The co-primary outcomes were proportion of caloric and protein prescription received enterally over the initial 7 days following randomization. Among 159 patients randomized, the modified intention-to-treat analysis included 155 patients: 73 patients in the active treatment group and 82 in the sham treatment group. Over the 7-day study period, the percent of prescribed caloric intake (± SE) received by the enteral route was 64% ± 2 in the active group and 65% ± 2 in sham patients for calories (difference, -1; 95% CI, -8 to 6; p = 0.74). For protein, it was 57% ± 3 in the active group and 60% ± 3 in the sham group (difference, -3; 95% CI, -10 to 3; p = 0.30). Compared to the sham group, there were more serious adverse events reported in the active treatment group (13 vs 6; p = 0.053). Clinically important arrhythmias were detected by Holter monitoring in 36 out of 70 (51%) in the active group versus 22 out of 76 (29%) in the sham group (p = 0.006).Conclusions: Esophageal stimulation via a special feeding catheter did not improve nutritional adequacy and was associated with increase risk of harm in critically ill patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The distinction between overuse and appropriate use of the ICU hinges on whether a patient would benefit from ICU care. We sought to test 1) whether physicians agree about which types of patients benefit from ICU care and 2) whether estimates of ICU benefit are influenced by factors unrelated to severity of illness.Design: Randomized study.Setting: Online vignettes.Subjects: U.S. critical care physicians.Interventions: Physicians were provided with eight vignettes of hypothetical patients. Each vignette had a single patient or hospital factor randomized across participants (four factors related and four unrelated to severity of illness).Measurements and Main Results: The primary outcome was the estimate of ICU benefit, assessed with a 4-point Likert-type scale. In total, 1,223 of 8,792 physicians volunteered to participate (14% recruitment rate). Physician agreement of ICU benefit was poor (mean intraclass correlation coefficient for each vignette: 0.06; range: 0-0.18). There were no vignettes in which more than two thirds of physicians agreed about the extent to which a patient would benefit from ICU care. Increasing severity of illness resulted in greater estimated benefit of ICU care. Among factors unrelated to severity of illness, physicians felt ICU care was more beneficial when told one ICU bed was available than if ICU bed availability was unmentioned. Physicians felt ICU care was less beneficial when family was present than when family presence was unmentioned. The patient's age, but not race/ethnicity, also impacted estimates of ICU benefit.Conclusions: Estimates of ICU benefit are widely dissimilar and influenced by factors unrelated to severity of illness, potentially resulting in inconsistent allocation of ICU care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]