Outcomes After Interhospital Critical Care Transfer

Objective

Patients who undergo interhospital transfer, particularly for intensive care unit (ICU) care, experience greater length of stay and mortality. There is evidence that patients transferred for surgical ICU care experience higher mortality rates; however, differences in length of stay or mortality across other ICU types remain unclear. The goals of this work were to assess how length of stay and mortality differ by ICU subspecialties.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective analysis of an existing critical care transfer data repository. We used multiple and logistic regression to identify significant factors that contribute to differences in length of stay and mortality for surgical ICU patients.

Results

There were no differences in length of stay or mortality based on ICU subspecialty. For every 1-year increase in age, mortality odds increased by 8.6% (P = .002). Patients transferred from an ICU had a longer length of stay by 6.3 days (P < .001). Non-Caucasian patients had a shorter length of stay by 3.4 days (P = .012).

Conclusion

Length of stay and mortality are not influenced by ICU subspecialty. Further research is needed to determine the mechanism by which sending unit type and race influence length of stay and identify other factors that predict mortality for SICU patients.