Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 17, 2026
Observational Study Protocol for Repeated Clinical Examination and Critical Care Ultrasonography Within the Simple Intensive Care Studies
Published on: January 16, 2019
[Evaluation of mortality of patients admitted to ICU for the last 12 years]
T Nakamura1, M Nishimura, Y Okada
1Intensive Care Unit, Osaka University Hospital, Suita.
Insights
This 12-year study of 2689 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients found that longer ICU stays and sepsis significantly increase mortality. Infant mortality was also notably higher.
Area of Science:
- Critical Care Medicine
- Hospital Epidemiology
- Surgical Outcomes
Context:
- Analysis of 2689 patients admitted to Osaka University Hospital's Intensive Care Unit (ICU) between January 1987 and December 1998.
- Patients categorized into three groups: cardiovascular surgery (n=1408), other surgical procedures (n=1082), and medical transfers (n=199).
Purpose:
- To evaluate mortality rates, causes of death, and the correlation between length of ICU stay and mortality.
- To examine mortality rates across different age groups over a 12-year period.
Summary:
- Mortality rates remained stable over 12 years, with cardiac failure and sepsis as primary causes in surgical patients, and respiratory failure and sepsis in medical patients.
- A significant positive correlation was observed between extended ICU stays (over 2 weeks) and increased mortality (p < 0.0001).
- The youngest age group (0-1 years) exhibited a significantly higher mortality rate compared to other age groups (p < 0.0001).
Impact:
- Sepsis identified as a critical determinant of mortality across all patient groups, underscoring the importance of infection control.
- Findings highlight the need for enhanced infection prevention and treatment strategies within ICUs to reduce patient mortality.
- The study emphasizes the prognostic significance of ICU length of stay and age on patient outcomes.
Abstract:
We evaluated mortality of 2689 patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit, Osaka University Hospital from January, 1987 to December, 1998. The patients were divided into 3 groups. Group A consisted of 1408 patients who underwent cardiovascular surgery, group B, 1082 patients who underwent other surgical procedures and group C, 199 patients who were transferred from the department of medicine. We studied mortality rate, causes of death, correlation between length of ICU stay and mortality rate, and mortality rate among age groups for 12 years. The main causes of death were cardiac failure and sepsis in group A, and respiratory failure and sepsis in group B and C. Mortality rate in each group showed no significant change for the last 12 years. Those who stayed more than 2 weeks in ICU showed a significantly higher mortality rate (p < 0.0001). Thus, length of ICU stay and mortality rate showed a positive correlation (p < 0.0001). The youngest group (age 0-1) showed a significantly higher mortality rate than other age groups (p < 0.0001). As sepsis was the most important cause of death in all the groups, the prevention and treatment of infection are the most important issue in our ICU to reduce mortality rate.