Acute respiratory failure in the elderly: etiology, emergency diagnosis and prognosis

Table 6 Variables associated with in-hospital death

Variables	Alive (n = 434)	Dead (n = 80)	Adjusted odds ratio	p
Inappropriate treatment in the ED	73/434 (17)	28/80 (35)	2.83 [1.48–5.41]	0.002
PaCO₂ ≥ 45 mmHg	90/414 (21)	29/73 (40)		0.004
PaCO₂ (mmHg)	41 ± 13 (n = 414)	44 ± 14 (n = 73)	2.79 [1.39–5.58]
Creatinine clearance ≤ 50 ml minute^-1	191/410 (47)	48/74 (65)		0.013
Creatinine clearance (ml minute^-1)	54 ± 26 (n = 410)	43 ± 18 (n = 74)	2.37 [1.20–4.71]
Elevated natriuretic peptide	148/317 (47)	43/58 (74)	2.06 [1.01–4.18]	0.046
BNP (pg ml^-1)	148 [102–178] (n = 275)	371 [237–503] (n = 54)
ProBNP (pg ml^-1)	1,172 [748–1,700] (n = 208)	4,084 [1,317–7,887] (n = 38)
Clinical signs of acute ventilatory failure	91/434 (21)	36/80 (45)	1.98 [1.01–3.90]	0.047

Data are numbers/totals of patients (%), means ± SD for the numeric variables in patients who fulfilled the given criteria, or medians [95% confidence intervals]. All differences between survivors and dead patients in the univariate analysis were significant (p < 0.05), including continuous variables. The logistic model was finally applied in 347 patients. Clinical signs of acute ventilatory failure included the use of accessory respiratory muscles and abdominal paradoxical respiration. ED, emergency department; PaCO₂, arterial partial pressure of CO₂; BNP, B-type natriuretic peptide.

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