Factors Associated with the Outcome of Older Patients Admitted in Geriatric Intensive Care Unit

Abstract

Objective: To determine the factors associated with the outcome of older patients admitted in Geriatric Intensive Care Unit. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional, observational study was conducted in the Geriatric Intensive Care Unit of the Department of Geriatric Medicine, Madras Medical College, Chennai. one hundred and seventy two patients, aged 60 and above, admitted in the Geriatric ICU during the period of 6 months, from January 2017 to June 2017, were selected to participate in this study. Data regarding age, sex, number of comorbidities, major organ system involved, duration of stay and procedures underwent in the ICU were collected and analyzed. Results: Out of the 172 samples, 92 were males, and 80 were females. The mean age of the study population was 70.1 ± 8.3 years. We found no association between age and survival (p=0.581), gender and survival (p=0.298). 30.2% of the samples who expired had four comorbidities. We found a statistically significant association between the number of comorbidities and outcome (p<0.008). Around 44 patients (25.6%) had respiratory problems, and it was the commonest cause of admission to ICU in this study. We found no association between major system involved and outcome (p=0.089). Sixty of the study participants (34.9%) needed mechanical ventilatory support. We found a statistical significance between procedure underwent and outcome (p<0.001). 57.5% of the study participants stayed in the GICU up to 1 week. We found a statistical significance between the duration of stay and outcome (p=0.022). In this study, 71.5% of the study participants survived, 3.5% of them went against medical advice, and 25% of them expired. Conclusion: In this study, the outcome of older patients admitted in Geriatric Intensive Care Unit depended on the number of preexisting comorbidities, length of stay and procedure underwent during the ICU stay but not the chronological age. In this study, only one in four died after undergoing treatment in the Geriatric Intensive care unit. Geriatric intensive care services can improve the outcome of older patients admitted with a critical illness.