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Table 1 Patient and hospital characteristics according to the absence or presence of an Intermediate Care Unit in the hospital

From: Hospital mortality of adults admitted to Intensive Care Units in hospitals with and without Intermediate Care Units: a multicentre European cohort study

Patients admitted to ICU

 

With IMCU

Without IMCU

P value

Number

 

5031

803

 

Gender

Female

2002 (39.8%)

332 (41.3%)

0.427

 

Male

3029 (60.2%)

471 (58.7%)

 

Age, years

Median (IQR)

65 (52-75)

68 (55-77)

<0.001

 

Missing

14

2

 

Transfer to higher LOC before ICU admission

No

4464 (88.9%)

785 (97.8%)

<0.001

 

Yes

558 (11.1%)

18 (2.2%)a

 
 

Missing

9

0

 

Intra-hospital location before ICU admission

Emergency room

1828 (36.7%)

218 (27.2%)

<0.001

 

Intermediate care

338 (6.8%)

33 (4.1%)a

 
 

Other ICU

243 (4.9%)

27 (3.4%)

 
 

Ward, other

2571 (51.6%)

523 (65.3%)

 
 

Missing

51

2

 

ICU admission

Planned

1471 (29.3%)

331 (41.2%)

<0.001

 

Unplanned

3554 (70.7%)

472 (58.8%)

 
 

Missing

6

0

 

`Basic observation' as ICU admission reason

No

3804 (75.6%)

475 (59.2%)

<0.001

 

Yes

1227 (24.4%)

328 (40.8%)

 

Surgery

Emergency surgery

993 (19.8%)

128 (15.9%)

<0.001

 

No surgery

2603 (51.8%)

361 (45%)

 
 

Scheduled surgery

1426 (28.4%)

314 (39.1%)

 
 

Missing

9

0

 

Infection at ICU admission

No

3461 (69.9%)

652 (81.5%)

<0.001

 

Yes

1492 (30.1%)

148 (18.5%)

 
 

Missing

78

3

 

SAPS II

Median (IQR)

37 (24-53)

29 (20-45)

<0.001

SAPS II predicted mortality

Median (IQR)

0.20 (0.06-0.53)

0.10 (0.04-0.35)

<0.001

 

Missing

59

3

 

SAPS 3

Median (IQR)

35 (23-48)

28 (19-41)

<0.001

SAPS 3 predicted mortality

Median (IQR)

0.19 (0.06-0.44)

0.10 (0.04-0.30)

<0.001

 

Missing

55

7

 

ICU length of stay, days

Median (IQR)

3.7 (1.9-7.7)

2.8 (1.8-4.8)

<0.001

 

Missing

48

5

 

ICU outcome

Survival

4049 (80.5%)

672 (83.7%)

0.036

 

Death

982 (19.5%)

131 (16.3%)

 

Hospital length of stay, days

Median (IQR)

13.9 (7.6-25)

11.0 (6.2-19)

<0.001

 

Missing

71

10

 

Hospital outcome

Survival

3799 (75.5%)

638 (79.5%)

0.017

 

Death

1232 (24.5%)

165 (20.5%)

 

Hospital characteristics

    

Number of hospital beds category

<500

1123 (23.3%)

507 (63.8%)

<0.001

 

500-1000

2519 (52.2%)

288 (36.2%)

 
 

>1000

1180 (24.5%)

0 (0%)

 
 

Missing

209

8

 

ICU adjusted beds categoryb

<8

406 (8.1%)

307 (38.2%)

<0.001

 

8-12

1879 (37.3%)

358 (44.6%)

 
 

>12

2746 (54.6%)

138 (17.2%)

 

Teaching status of the hospital

Non-teaching

495 (9.8%)

306 (38.1%)

<0.001

 

Teaching

4536 (90.2%)

497 (61.9%)

 

Profit status of the hospital

For-profit

28 (0.6%)

84 (10.5%)

<0.001

 

Non-profit

5003 (99.4%)

719 (89.5%)

 

Possibility of extra beds inside ICU

No

3921 (77.9%)

696 (86.7%)

<0.001

 

Yes

1110 (22.1%)

107 (13.3%)

 

ICU nurse: patient ratio in daytimec

<0.5

1255 (24.9%)

0 (0%)

<0.001

 

0.5-1

2382 (47.3%)

466 (58%)

 
 

>1

1394 (27.7%)

337 (42%)

 
  1. aIMCUs of any other hospital different from that of the ICU; bnumber of ICU staffed beds adjusted for the ICUs having intermediate care beds inside considering two intermediate care beds inside ICU to be equivalent to one ICU bed; ccomputed for only registered nurses. Data are number (N) with percentage or median with interquartile range (IQR). ICU: Intensive Care Unit; IMCU: Intermediate Care Unit (physically and administratively independent unit present in the hospital); LOC: Level of Care; SAPS: Simplified Acute Physiology Score.
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