Project description:To summarize the current literature on racial and gender disparities in critical care and the mechanisms underlying these disparities in the course of acute critical illness.MEDLINE search on the published literature addressing racial, ethnic, or gender disparities in acute critical illness, such as sepsis, acute lung injury, pneumonia, venous thromboembolism, and cardiac arrest.Clinical studies that evaluated general critically ill patient populations in the United States as well as specific critical care conditions were reviewed with a focus on studies evaluating factors and contributors to health disparities.Study findings are presented according to their association with the prevalence, clinical presentation, management, and outcomes in acute critical illness.This review presents potential contributors for racial and gender disparities related to genetic susceptibility, comorbidities, preventive health services, socioeconomic factors, cultural differences, and access to care. The data are organized along the course of acute critical illness.The literature to date shows that disparities in critical care are most likely multifactorial involving individual, community, and hospital-level factors at several points in the continuum of acute critical illness. The data presented identify potential targets as interventions to reduce disparities in critical care and future avenues for research.
Project description:BACKGROUND:We hypothesized that preexisting malnutrition in patients who survived critical care would be associated with adverse outcomes following hospital discharge. METHODS:We performed an observational cohort study in 1 academic medical center in Boston. We studied 23,575 patients, aged ?18 years, who received critical care between 2004 and 2011 and survived hospitalization. RESULTS:The exposure of interest was malnutrition determined at intensive care unit (ICU) admission by a registered dietitian using clinical judgment and on data related to unintentional weight loss, inadequate nutrient intake, and wasting of muscle mass and/or subcutaneous fat. The primary outcome was 90-day postdischarge mortality. Secondary outcome was unplanned 30-day hospital readmission. Adjusted odds ratios were estimated by logistic regression models adjusted for age, race, sex, Deyo-Charlson Index, surgical ICU, sepsis, and acute organ failure. In the cohort, the absolute risk of 90-day postdischarge mortality was 5.9%, 11.7%, 15.8%, and 21.9% in patients without malnutrition, those at risk of malnutrition, nonspecific malnutrition, and protein-energy malnutrition, respectively. The odds of 90-day postdischarge mortality in patients at risk of malnutrition, nonspecific malnutrition, and protein-energy malnutrition fully adjusted were 1.77 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.23-2.54), 2.51 (95% CI, 1.36-4.62), and 3.72 (95% CI, 2.16-6.39), respectively, relative to patients without malnutrition. Furthermore, the presence of malnutrition is a significant predictor of the odds of unplanned 30-day hospital readmission. CONCLUSIONS:In patients treated with critical care who survive hospitalization, preexisting malnutrition is a robust predictor of subsequent mortality and unplanned hospital readmission.
Project description:OBJECTIVES:The 1.5 million Medicare beneficiaries who survive intensive care each year have a high post-hospitalization mortality rate. We aimed to determine whether mortality after critical illness is higher for Medicare beneficiaries with Medicaid compared with those with commercial insurance. DESIGN:A retrospective cohort study from 2010 through 2014 with 1 year of follow-up using the New York Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System database. SETTING:A New York State population-based study of older (age??65?y) survivors of intensive care. PARTICIPANTS:Adult Medicare beneficiaries age 65?years or older who were hospitalized with intensive care at a New York State hospital and survived to discharge. INTERVENTION:None. MEASUREMENT:Mortality in the first year after hospital discharge. RESULTS:The study included 340 969 Medicare beneficiary survivors of intensive care with a mean (standard deviation) age of 77 (8) years; 20% died within 1 year. There were 152 869 (45%) with commercial insurance, 78 577 (23%) with Medicaid, and 109 523 (32%) with Medicare alone. Compared with those with commercial insurance, those with Medicare alone had a similar 1-year mortality rate (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR]?=?1.01; 95% confidence interval [CI]?=?.99-1.04), and those with Medicaid had a 9% higher 1-year mortality rate (aHR?=?1.09; 95% CI?=?1.05-1.12). Among those discharged home, the 1-year mortality rate did not vary by insurance coverage, but among those discharged to skilled-care facilities (SCFs), the 1-year mortality rate was 16% higher for Medicaid recipients (aHR?=?1.16; 95% CI?=?1.12-1.21; P for interaction <.001). CONCLUSIONS:Older adults with Medicaid insurance have a higher 1-year post-hospitalization mortality compared with those with commercial insurance, especially among those discharged to SCFs. Future studies should investigate care disparities at SCFs that may mediate these higher mortality rates. J Am Geriatr Soc 67:2497-2504, 2019.
Project description:OBJECTIVE:Hospital-level variations in structure and process may affect clinical outcomes in ICUs. We sought to characterize the organizational structure, processes of care, use of protocols, and standardized outcomes in a large sample of U.S. ICUs. DESIGN:We surveyed 69 ICUs about organization, size, volume, staffing, processes of care, use of protocols, and annual ICU mortality. SETTING:ICUs participating in the United States Critical Illness and Injury Trials Group Critical Illness Outcomes Study. SUBJECTS:Sixty-nine intensivists completed the survey. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:We characterized structure and process variables across ICUs, investigated relationships between these variables and annual ICU mortality, and adjusted for illness severity using Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II. Ninety-four ICU directors were invited to participate in the study and 69 ICUs (73%) were enrolled, of which 25 (36%) were medical, 24 (35%) were surgical, and 20 (29%) were of mixed type, and 64 (93%) were located in teaching hospitals with a median number of five trainees per ICU. Average annual ICU mortality was 10.8%, average Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score was 19.3, 58% were closed units, and 41% had a 24-hour in-house intensivist. In multivariable linear regression adjusted for Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II and multiple ICU structure and process factors, annual ICU mortality was lower in surgical ICUs than in medical ICUs (5.6% lower [95% CI, 2.4-8.8%]) or mixed ICUs (4.5% lower [95% CI, 0.4-8.7%]). We also found a lower annual ICU mortality among ICUs that had a daily plan of care review (5.8% lower [95% CI, 1.6-10.0%]) and a lower bed-to-nurse ratio (1.8% lower when the ratio decreased from 2:1 to 1.5:1 [95% CI, 0.25-3.4%]). In contrast, 24-hour intensivist coverage (p = 0.89) and closed ICU status (p = 0.16) were not associated with a lower annual ICU mortality. CONCLUSIONS:In a sample of 69 ICUs, a daily plan of care review and a lower bed-to-nurse ratio were both associated with a lower annual ICU mortality. In contrast to 24-hour intensivist staffing, improvement in team communication is a low-cost, process-targeted intervention strategy that may improve clinical outcomes in ICU patients.
Project description:Alterations in lipid metabolism have the potential to be markers as well as drivers of the pathobiology of acute critical illness. Here, we took advantage of the temporal precision offered by trauma as a common cause of critical illness to identify the dynamic patterns in the circulating lipidome in critically ill humans. The major findings include an early loss of all classes of circulating lipids followed by a delayed and selective lipogenesis in patients destined to remain critically ill. Early in the clinical course, Fresh Frozen Plasma administration led to improved survival in association with preserved lipid levels that related to favorable changes in coagulation and inflammation biomarkers. Late over-representation of phosphatidylethanolamines with critical illness led to the validation of a Lipid Reprogramming Score that was prognostic not only in trauma but also severe COVID-19 patients. Our lipidomic findings provide a new paradigm for the lipid response underlying critical illness.
Project description:Purpose of reviewGiven the growing body of critical care clinical research publications, core outcome sets (COSs) are important to help mitigate heterogeneity in outcomes assessed and measurement instruments used, and have potential to reduce research waste. This article provides an update on COS projects in critical care medicine, and related resources and tools for COS developers.Recent findingsWe identified 28 unique COS projects, of which 15 have published results as of May 2020. COS topics relevant to critical care medicine include mechanical ventilation, cardiology, stroke, rehabilitation, and long-term outcomes (LTOs) after critical illness. There are four COS projects for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), with a 'meta-COS' summarizing common outcomes across these projects. To help facilitate COS development, there are existing resources, standards, guidelines, and tools available from the Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials Initiative (www.comet-initiative.org/) and the National Institutes of Health-funded Improve LTO project (www.improvelto.com/).SummaryMany COS projects have been completed in critical care, with more on-going COS projects, including foci from across the spectrum of acute critical care, COVID-19, critical care rehabilitation, and patient recovery and LTOs. Extensive resources are accessible to help facilitate rigorous COS development.
Project description:assessment of baseline functional status of older patients during and after intensive care unit (ICU) admission is often hampered by challenges related to the critical illness such as cognitive dysfunction, neuropsychological morbidity and pain. To explore the reliability of assessments by carefully chosen proxies, we designed a discriminating selection of proxies and evaluated agreement between patient and proxy responses by assessing activities of daily living (ADLs) at 1 month post-ICU discharge.patients ?60 years old admitted to the medical ICU were enrolled in a prospective parent cohort studying delirium. Proxies were carefully screened at ICU admission to choose the best available respondent. Follow-up interviews, including instruments for ADLs, were conducted 1 month after ICU discharge. We examined 179 paired patient-proxy follow-up interviews. Kappa statistics assessed inter-observer agreement, and McNemar's exact test assessed response differences.patients averaged 73.3 ± 8.1 years old with 29% having evidence of cognitive impairment. Proxies were most commonly spouses (38%) or children (39%). Overall, there was substantial (? ? 0.6) to excellent agreement (? ? 0.8) between patients and proxies on assessment of all but one basic and one instrumental ADL.proxies carefully chosen at ICU admission show high levels of inter-observer agreement with older patients when assessing current functional status at 1 month post-ICU discharge. This motivates further study of proxy assessments that could be used earlier in critical illness to assess premorbid functional status.
Project description:Our aim was to determine characteristics of children with chronic critical illness (CCI) admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of a tertiary care children's hospital in Turkey. The current study was a multicenter retrospective cohort study that was done from 2014 to 2017. It involved three university hospitals PICUs in which multiple criteria were set to identify pediatric CCIs. Pediatric patients staying in the ICU for at least 14 days and having at least one additional criterion, including prolonged mechanical ventilation, tracheostomy, sepsis, severe wound (burn) or trauma, encephalopathy, traumatic brain injury, status epilepticus, being postoperative, and neuromuscular disease, was accepted as CCI. In order to identify the newborn as a chronic critical patient, a stay in the intensive care unit for at least 30 days in addition to prematurity was required. Eight hundred eighty seven (11.14%) of the patients who were admitted to the PICU met the definition of CCI and 775 of them (87.3%) were discharged to their home. Of CCI patients, 289 (32.6%) were premature and 678 (76.4%) had prolonged mechanical ventilation. The total cost values for 2017 were statistically higher than the other years. As the length of ICU stay increased, the costs also increased. Interestingly, high incidence rates were observed for PCCI in our hospitals and these patients occupied 38.01% of the intensive care bed capacity. In conclusion, we observed that prematurity and prolonged mechanical ventilation increase the length of ICU stay, which also increased the costs. More work is needed to better understand PCCI.