Impact of an ageing population on the intensive care unit

Abstract

Intensive care unit (ICU) resources are scarce and expensive, and deciding if intensive care is suitable for older patients involves complex clinical reasoning, ethical challenges and cost considerations. Although some studies show that ICU mortality increases with age, others suggest that age alone is not predictive of poor prognosis, and other factors such as frailty, premorbid functional status and comorbidities could be important.