Intensive Care Unit Use and Mortality in the Elderly

OBJECTIVE: To examine utilization and outcomes of intensive care unit (ICU) use for the elderly in the United States. DESIGN: We used 1992 data from the Health Care Financing Administration to examine ICU utilization and mortality by age and admission reason for hospitalizations of elderly Medicare...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of general internal medicine : JGIM 2000-02, Vol.15 (2), p.97-102
Main Authors: Yu, Wei, Ash, Arlene S., Levinsky, Norman G., Moskowitz, Mark A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Beneficiaries
Biological and medical sciences
Comorbidity
Female
Health care
health services for aged
Hospital Charges
Hospital Mortality
Hospitalization
Hospitalization - economics
Hospitalization - statistics & numerical data
Hospitals
Humans
Insurance, Health, Reimbursement - economics
Intensive care
Intensive Care Units - economics
Intensive Care Units - statistics & numerical data
Internal medicine
Male
Medical sciences
Medicare
Medicare - economics
Medicine
Mortality
Original
Patient admissions
Prevention and actions
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Retrospective Studies
Specific populations (family, woman, child, elderly...)
Survival Rate
United States - epidemiology
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Summary:OBJECTIVE: To examine utilization and outcomes of intensive care unit (ICU) use for the elderly in the United States. DESIGN: We used 1992 data from the Health Care Financing Administration to examine ICU utilization and mortality by age and admission reason for hospitalizations of elderly Medicare beneficiaries. MAIN RESULTS: Use of the ICU was least likely for the oldest elderly overall (85+ years, 21.1% of admissions involved ICU; 75–84 years, 27.9%; 65–74 years, 29.7%), but more likely during surgical admissions. Eighty‐three percent of the Medicare patients who received intensive care survived at least 90 days. Of the oldest elderly, 74% survived. Even among the 10% most expensive ICU hospitalizations, 77% of all patients and 62% of those 85 years and older survived at least 90 days. CONCLUSIONS: The likelihood of ICU use among these elderly decreased with age, especially among those 85 years or older. Diagnostic mix importantly influenced ICU use by age. The great majority of the elderly, including those 85 years and older and those receiving the most expensive ICU care, survived at least 90 days.
ISSN:0884-8734
1525-1497
DOI:10.1046/j.1525-1497.2000.02349.x