Intensivists' base specialty of training is associated with variations in mortality and practice patterns

Table 3 Outcome measures based on physician specialty

	Entire cohort of patients					Patients cared for by a single Intensivist during ICU stay
Measures	Overall	IM	Pulm	AGSEM	p value*	Overall	IM	Pulm	AGSEM	p value*
ICU Mortality (%)	17.2	17.9	16.0	18.0	<0.05	19.9	21.8	17.4	20.8	NS
Median ICU LOS in Days (IQR)	2.9 (1.4 to 6.7)	2.9 (1.5 to 6.8)	2.8 (1.4 to 6.6)	2.8 (1.3 to 6.6)	NS	1.7 (0.9 to 2.8)	1.7 (0.9 to 2.8)	1.7 (0.9 to 2.7)	1.6 (0.8 to 2.7)	NS
Hospital Mortality (%)	32.0	32.7	31.4	31.7	NS	33.0	36.5	28.8	34.0	NS
Median Hospital LOS in Days (IQR)	13.5 (5.7 to 30.7)	14.3 (5.7 to 32.4)	13.8 (6.1 to 30.9)	13.7 (5.9 to 32.8)	NS	8.9 (3.3 to 19.0)	8.4 (2.8 to 19.2)	8.8 (3.8 to 18.9)	8.4 (3.3 to 18.7)	NS
Patients changed from Full Care to DNR (%)	12.8	13.3	12.6	12.1	<0.05	9.6	11.2	8.2	8.6	<0.05
Median Number of Procedures (IQR)	3 (2 to 5)	3 (2 to 5)	3 (2 to 4)	3 (2 to 5)	<0.05	2 (2 to 3)	3 (2 to 4)	2 (1 to 3)	3 (2 to 4)	<0.05

AGSEM = Intensivists with base specialty training in Anesthesia, General Surgery or Emergency Medicine; DNR = Do Not Resuscitate; ICU = Intensive Care Unit; IM = Intensivists with base specialty training in Internal Medicine; IQR = Interquartile Range; LOS = Length of Stay; NS = non-significant; Pulm = Intensivists with base specialty training in Pulmonary Medicine.
* Reflects comparisons between the three specialty groups using Generalized Estimating Equations

ISSN: 1364-8535