Abstract
Objective
To test the hypothesis that technology availability, staffing, and diagnostic diversity in an intensive care unit (ICU) are associated with the ability to decrease hospital mortality.
Design
Prospective multicenter descriptive cohort study.
Setting
Ten Brazilian medical-surgical ICUs.
Patients
1734 consecutive adult ICU admissions.
Measurements and results
We recorded t the amount of technology, number of diagnoses, and availability of nurses at each ICU. We also used demographic, clinical and physiologic information for an average of 173 admissions to each ICU to calculate standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for each ICU. The mean SMR for the ten ICUs was 1.67 (range 1.01–2.30). A greater availability of ICU equipment and services was significantly (p<0.001) associated with a lower SMR.
Conclusion
The ability of Brazilian ICUs to reduce hospital mortality is associated with the amount of technology available in these units.
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Supported by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (HSO7173); tHE jOHN A. Hartford Foundation (87267); The Department of Anesthesiology, The George Washington University medical Center; The National Council of Scientific and Technology Development (CNPq), Brazil (No. 202321/98.4); and APACHE Medical Systems Inc
A complete list of study hospitals and participants appears at the end of this article.
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Bastos, P.G., Knaus, W.A., Zimmerman, J.E. et al. The importance of technology for achieving superior outcomes from intensive care. Intensive Care Med 22, 664–669 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01709743
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01709743