Long-term outcomes and healthcare utilization following critical illness--a population-based study.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to examine hospital mortality, long-term mortality, and health service utilization among critically ill patients. We also determined whether these outcomes differed according to demographic and clinical characteristics. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of adults (age ≥ 18 years) who survived admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) in Ontario, Canada, between 1 April 2002 and 31 March 2012, excluding isolated admissions to step-down or intermediate ICUs, coronary care ICUs, or cardiac surgery ICUs. Adults (age ≥ 18 years) who survived an acute hospitalization that did not include an ICU stay formed the comparator group. The primary outcome was mortality following hospital discharge. Secondary outcomes were healthcare utilization, including emergency room admissions and hospital readmissions during follow-up. RESULTS: Over the study interval, 500,124 patients were admitted to ICUs and 420,187 (84%) survived to hospital discharge. Median follow-up for survivors was 5.3 (interquartile range 2.5, 8.2) years. Patients admitted to an ICU were more likely to subsequently visit the emergency department, be readmitted to the hospital and ICU, receive home care support, require rehabilitation, and be admitted for long-term care. Those requiring more resources within the ICU required more resources after discharge. One-third of patients admitted to the ICU died during long-term follow-up, with overall probabilities of death of 11% and 29% at 1 year and 5 years, respectively. In the adjusted analysis, there was an increasing hazard of death with increasing age, reaching a hazard ratio of 18.08 (95 % confidence interval 16.60-19.68) for those ≥ 85 years of age compared with those aged 18-24 years. CONCLUSIONS: Healthcare utilization after hospital discharge was higher among ICU patients, and also among those requiring more healthcare resources during their ICU admission, than among all hospitalized patients as a group. One-third of ICU patients died within the 5 years following discharge, and age was the most influential determinant of outcome. These findings should help target post-ICU discharge services for high-risk groups and better inform goals-of-care discussions for elderly critically ill patients.

Prehospital cooling to improve successful targeted temperature management after cardiac arrest: A randomized controlled trial.

RATIONALE: Targeted temperature management (TTM) improves survival with good neurological outcome after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), but is delivered inconsistently and often with delay. OBJECTIVE: To determine if prehospital cooling by paramedics leads to higher rates of 'successful TTM', defined as achieving a target temperature of 32-34°C within 6h of hospital arrival. METHODS: Pragmatic RCT comparing prehospital cooling (surface ice packs, cold saline infusion, wristband reminders) initiated 5min after return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) versus usual resuscitation and transport. The primary outcome was rate of 'successful TTM'; secondary outcomes were rates of applying TTM in hospital, survival with good neurological outcome, pulmonary edema in emergency department, and re-arrest during transport. RESULTS: 585 patients were randomized to receive prehospital cooling (n=279) or control (n=306). Prehospital cooling did not increase rates of 'successful TTM' (30% vs 25%; RR, 1.17; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.91-1.52; p=0.22), but increased rates of applying TTM in hospital (68% vs 56%; RR, 1.21; 95%CI 1.07-1.37; p=0.003). Survival with good neurological outcome (29% vs 26%; RR, 1.13, 95%CI 0.87-1.47; p=0.37) was similar. Prehospital cooling was not associated with re-arrest during transport (7.5% vs 8.2%; RR, 0.94; 95%CI 0.54-1.63; p=0.83) but was associated with decreased incidence of pulmonary edema in emergency department (12% vs 18%; RR, 0.66; 95%CI 0.44-0.99; p=0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Prehospital cooling initiated 5min after ROSC did not increase rates of achieving a target temperature of 32-34°C within 6h of hospital arrival but was safe and increased application of TTM in hospital.