Turkish Journal of Geriatrics 2010 , Vol 13, Issue 4
SURVIVAL ANALYSIS OF THE ELDERLY PATIENTS TREATED IN THE RESPIRATORY INTENSIVE CARE UNIT
Fatma ULUS, Serdar KOKULU, Eser ÅžAVKILIOÄžLU
Atatürk Göğüs Hastalıkları ve Göğüs Cerrahisi Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Anesteziyoloji ve Reanimasyon Kliniği ANKARA Introduction: The number of elderly patients treated in the respiratory intensive care units (RICUs) are increasing continuously. The aim of the study is to analyze the patient characteristics, hospital stay, mortality and the factors affecting mortality for patients above 65 years of age who are treated for acute respiratory insufficiency (ARI) in the RICU.

Materials and Method: This retrospective analysis includes patients over 65 years of age who have pulmonary disease (surgical pulmonary insufficiency is excluded) and followed in the RICU between 01.12.2007 and 30.03.2009. Patients were divided into two groups according to their age: 65-74 years of age and above 75 years of age. In this age group 81 ICU admission of 76 patients were included to the study. Group I includes 42 patients and Group II includes 39 patients.

Results: The mortality rate was 40% (18 patients) in Group I and 66.7% (27 patients) in Group II. The difference was found statistically significant between the groups (p<0.05). The mean Glasgow coma score was calculated as 12.7±2.8 in Group I and 10.4±4.7 in Group II (p<0.05). The mean APACHE II scores were 20.5±5.9 and 25.8±8.7 in Groups I and II respectively (p<0.05). The predicted mortality rate according to APACHE II score was 38.52±18.8 in Group I and 54.7±25.2 in Group II (p<0.05), the SOFA score was 6.6±2.2 in Group I and 8.1±2.9 in Group II (p<0.05).

Conclusion: Advanced age affects mortality rate of RICU patients. The APACHE II and SOFA scores can effectively be used for elderly patients treated in the RICU. Keywords : Aged; Respiratory insufficiency; Intensive care unit