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Assessing the utility of ICU admission for octogenarians

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Abstract

Background

Advanced age is associated with increased severity of acute critical illnesses and admission to ICU. Despite advances in the support for older critically ill patients, the short- and long-term mortality rates remain substantial. The purpose of this study is to analyze the factors influencing the outcome of a geriatric population admitted to the ICU.

Methods

A single-center, prospective, observational study was conducted among all geriatric patients, 80 years or older, admitted to ICU during a 6-month study period.

Results

Fifty-two patients were admitted. Mean age was 85.1 years (range 80–96), mean APACHE-II score was 24.7 (range 11–40), and mean frailty score was 5.8 (range 3–8). Thirty-nine (75 %) patients received mechanical ventilation, and 31 (59.7 %) were on vasoactive therapy. Twenty-four (46.3 %) patients died during their hospital admission, and 13 (25 %) of them expired in ICU.

Discussion

Advanced age, needs for vasopressor therapy, and mechanical ventilation are independent predictive factors of adverse outcome. Pre-admission functional status was not independently associated with unfavorable outcome.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center, 760 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY, 11206, USA

    Jose Orsini, Christa Blaak, Ben Shamian, Xavier Fonseca, Amr Salem & Yaw-Ling Chen

Authors
  1. Jose Orsini
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  2. Christa Blaak
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  3. Ben Shamian
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  4. Xavier Fonseca
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  5. Amr Salem
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  6. Yaw-Ling Chen
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Correspondence to Jose Orsini.

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No conflicts of interest among authors.

Statement of human and animal rights

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed consent

After waiving the needs for informed consent from patients and relatives, both the Institutional Review Board and Ethics Committee approved the study.

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Orsini, J., Blaak, C., Shamian, B. et al. Assessing the utility of ICU admission for octogenarians. Aging Clin Exp Res 28, 745–751 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-015-0462-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-015-0462-9

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