Turkish Journal of Geriatrics 2011 , Vol 14, Issue 2
AGE ALONE SHOULD NOT BE A TRIAGE CRITERION FOR INTENSIVE CARE UNIT ADMISSION
Ş. Gülbin AYGENCEL, Neslihan DOĞAN, Başak ÜNVER-KOLUMAN, Melda AYBAR-TÜRKOĞLU
Gazi Ãœniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, İç Hastalıkları Anabilim Dalı, ANKARA Introduction: Older age is associated with higher prevalence of chronic illness and functional impairment, contributing to an increased rate of hospitalization and admission to intensive care. The primary objectives of this study are to evaluate the rate, characteristics and outcomes of elderly patients (age ≥65) admitted to our intensive care unit (ICU), to compare the differences between old (65-79 years old) and very old (≥80) patients, and to find the factors associated with survival.

Materials and Method: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from our ICU patient database was performed. Data were obtained for 780 adult admissions for ≥24 hours between April 1, 2007 and April 1, 2009.

Results: A total of 260 elderly patients (33.3%) were admitted during the study. ICU mortality for this group was 48.8%. Advanced age (≥65) was not associated with higher ICU death. Factors associated with decreased survival included greater illness severity, longer stay in the ICU use of advanced life-support measures in the ICU (such as mechanical ventilation, central venous or arterial catheterization and vasoactive and /or inotropic drugs), and differences in some laboratory parameters. The significant differences between old and very old patients were found to be due to gender and comorbidity differences.

Conclusion: The proportion of patients aged ≥65 years old admitted to intensive care is rapidly increasing. Although these patients have more comorbidities and their severity of illness is greater when compared to younger patients, approximately half of the old patients survive to ICU discharge. Our results emphasize that age alone is not a relevant criterion for ICU admission. Keywords : Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Length of Stay; Intensive Care Units/utilization; Mortality