The very elderly in intensive care: admission characteristics and mortality.

Crit Care Resusc. 2008 Jun;10(2):110. LinkOut

Ryan D, Conlon N, Phelan D, Marsh B.
Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. dryan27@hotmail.com.

OBJECTIVE: It is often assumed that critical care outcomes in the elderly are uniformly poorer than those in younger populations. We examined the pattern of admissions to our intensive care unit in Dublin, Ireland, between 2002 and 2005 to determine the admission characteristics and mortality in those aged 80 years and older. METHODS: Data were collected retrospectively from a local audit database and patient charts.

RESULTS: The very elderly represented 5.1% of ICU admissions over the period with an ICU mortality of 15.4%. Age-adjusted APACHE II scores were similar to those in the younger group (median, 7 for both groups). The average length of ICU stay (+/-SD) was similar in the very elderly and younger groups (4.03+/-0.51 v 4.86+/-0.31 days; P=0.52), as were readmission rates (5.7% v 5.2%).