Skip to main content

Table 1 Characteristics of patients with suspected infection admitted to the intensive care unit

From: Emergency Department disposition decisions and associated mortality and costs in ICU patients with suspected infection

Characteristic

Direct to ICU (n = 338)

Ward (n = 246)

Home (n = 73)

P value

Age, years, mean (SD)

64.4 (16.4)

64.3 (14.1)

63.1 (16.0)

0.61

Male sex, n (%)

169 (50.0)

155 (63.0)

36 (49.3)

< 0.01a,b

Comorbidities, n (%)

 

 Congestive heart failure

22 (6.5)

32 (13.0)

8 (11.0)

0.03a

 Arrhythmia

44 (13.0)

46 (18.7)

12 (16.4)

0.17

 Valvular disease

7 (2.1)

6 (2.4)

0 (0)

0.42

 Peripheral vascular disease

3 (0.9)

11 (4.5)

3 (4.1)

0.02a,c

 Hypertension

54 (16.0)

62 (25.2)

16 (21.9)

0.02a

 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

30 (8.9)

33 (13.4)

9 (12.3)

0.95

 Diabetes mellitus

93 (27.5)

80 (32.5)

30 (41.1)

0.06

 Renal failure

25 (7.4)

25 (10.2)

6 (8.2)

0.40

 Liver disease

21 (6.2)

25 (10.2)

6 (8.2)

0.22

 Metastatic cancer

24 (7.1)

15 (6.1)

5 (6.8)

0.89

Elixhauser comorbidity score, mean (SD)

5.2 (4.1)

7.2 (6.8)

6.9 (5.1)

< 0.01a,c

ED APACHE II score, mean (SD)

13.5 (3.6)

12.4 (3.7)

7.7 (2.6)

< 0.001a,b,c

ICU APACHE II score, mean (SD)

13.6 (3.6)

15.6 (3.9)

17.4 (4.5)

< 0.001a,b,c

Suspected source of infection, n (%)

0.87

 Pulmonary

170 (50.3)

116 (47.2)

29 (39.7)

 

 Gastrointestinal

93 (27.5)

72 (29.3)

24 (32.9)

 

 Urinary tract

51 (15.1)

40 (16.3)

12 (16.4)

 

 Skin/soft tissue infection

8 (2.4)

5 (2.0)

4 (5.5)

 

 Central nervous system

7 (2.1)

5 (2.0)

2 (2.7)

 

 Other/unknown

9 (2.7)

8 (3.3)

2 (2.7)

 

Bacteremia, n (%)

74 (21.9)

50 (20.3)

15 (20.5)

0.89

Septic shock in ED, n (%)

220 (65.1)

0 (0.0)

0 (0.0)

< 0.001a,c

Initial vital signs

 Systolic blood pressure, mmHg, mean (SD)

105 (24)

121 (29)

124 (32)

< 0.001a,c

 Diastolic blood pressure, mmHg, mean (SD)

61 (18)

71 (15)

74 (18)

< 0.001a,c

 Heart rate, beats/min, mean (SD)

105 (33)

92 (30)

90 (31)

< 0.001a,c

 Temperature, °C, mean (SD)

37.6 (0.8)

36.8 (0.7)

36.8 (0.7)

< 0.01a,c

 Oxygen saturation, %, median (IQR)

90 (5)

94 (5)

94 (5)

< 0.01a,c

Initial laboratory values

 White blood cell count, × 109/L, median (IQR)

8.7 (5.9–10.9)

7.9 (5.6–10.2)

7.9 (5.5–10.5)

0.10

 Hemoglobin, g/L, mean (SD)

109 (21)

110 (19)

111 (19)

0.65

 Platelets, × 109/L, mean (SD)

280 (103)

288 (98)

278 (116)

0.13

 Sodium, mmol/L, mean (SD)

140 (5)

140 (5)

141 (6)

0.28

 Potassium, mmol/L, mean (SD)

4.3 (0.5)

4.3 (0.6)

4.2 (0.7)

0.40

 Creatinine, μmol/L, median (IQR)

110 (93–129)

102 (81–107)

93 (82–98)

< 0.001a,b,c

 Urea, mmol/L, median (IQR)

8.3 (4.9–17.9)

6.6 (4.5–11.8)

4.8 (3.7–5.8)

< 0.001a,b,c

 Lactate, mmol/L, median (IQR)

3.2 (2.3–4.1)

3.2 (2.6–3.6)

2.3 (1.7–2.7)

< 0.001b,c

 Albumin, g/L, mean (SD)

27.1 (6.8)

27.3 (6.9)

27.3 (6.8)

0.34

 INR, median (IQR)

1.2 (1.1–1.4)

1.2 (1.1–1.4)

1.2 (1.1–1.3)

0.49

  1. Abbreviations: ICU Intensive care unit, ED Emergency department, APACHE II Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II, IQR Interquartile range, INR International normalized ratio
  2. Characteristics of ICU patients with suspected infection and index visit to ED within 72 hours of ICU admission. One-way analysis of variance was used to compare mean values, and the Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare median values between groups. The χ2 test was used to compare categorical variables between groups. P values are displayed. Pairwise comparisons were performed using Student’s t test (parametric values) and the Mann-Whitney U test (nonparametric values)
  3. aStatistically significant difference (i.e., P < 0.05) between patients admitted directly to the ICU and those admitted to the ward
  4. bStatistically significant difference (i.e., P < 0.05) between patients admitted to the ward and those initially sent home
  5. cStatistically significant difference (i.e., P < 0.05) between patients admitted directly to the ICU and those initially sent home
Back to article page

Critical Care

ISSN: 1364-8535