Selection of Intensive Care Unit Admission for Patients Aged 80 Years and Over and Compliance of Emergency and Intensive Care Unit Physicians with the Selected Criteria: An Observational, Multicenter, Prospective Study

Abstract

This was a prospective observational cohort study conducted in 15 French hospitals to describe the decisions of emergency physicians for referring elderly patients for admission to an intensive care unit (ICU). Forty-four definite and 30 equivocal criteria for ICU admission in patients 80 years old or greater were derived by the Delphi method from guidelines set in 1999 by the Society of Critical Care Medicine. These criteria were then examined in 2646 consecutive elderly patients evaluated for possible ICU referral over a 15-month period.