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More men than women are admitted to 9 intensive care units in British Columbia
Peter Dodek1, Jean-Francois Kozak, Monica Norena
1Center for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, Providence Health Care, Vancouver, BC, Canada. pedodek@interchange.ubc.ca
Insights
More men than women are admitted to intensive care units (ICUs). This male predominance in ICU admissions is particularly pronounced in elderly patients, highlighting a significant demographic trend in critical care.
Area of Science:
- Critical Care Medicine
- Demographics
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Understanding demographic disparities in healthcare is crucial for resource allocation and targeted interventions.
- Intensive care unit (ICU) admission rates can vary significantly based on patient characteristics, including sex and age.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether there is a sex-based difference in admission rates to adult intensive care units (ICUs).
- To analyze the relationship between sex, age, and ICU admission likelihood.
Main Methods:
- Data from 9 hospitals in British Columbia, Canada (1998-2008) were analyzed, normalizing ICU admissions by regional population.
- A tertiary hospital's data allowed for analysis of ICU admissions relative to hospital population.
- Multivariate regression models were employed to adjust for potential confounding factors.
Main Results:
- The overall male-to-female ratio for ICU admissions across 9 hospitals exceeded 1.
- In a detailed analysis of one tertiary hospital, the male-to-female admission ratio was greater than 1 for all age groups and increased with age.
- While men and women under 80 were similarly likely to be admitted to the ICU, men aged 80 and older had a significantly higher likelihood (OR 2.14) compared to women.
Conclusions:
- Findings indicate a higher proportion of men are admitted to ICUs compared to women.
- The disparity in ICU admissions between sexes is most pronounced in the elderly population (80+ years).
Purpose:
The aim of this study is to determine if more males than females are admitted to adult intensive care units (ICUs).
Materials And Methods:
In 9 tertiary and community hospitals in British Columbia, Canada, we expressed the number of patients admitted to hospital and to ICU from 1998 to 2008 as a proportion of the population of the main regions served by these hospitals, and for ICU patients in 1 tertiary hospital, as a proportion of the hospital population. Patients not residing in the region of this tertiary hospital or whose addresses were unknown and admissions for sex-specific diagnoses were excluded from the main analyses. Male proportion was divided by female proportion for age groups by decade. Multivariate regression was used to determine the association between sex and admission to ICU after adjustment for confounders.
Results:
Normalized male-to-female ratio of ICU admissions to the 9 hospitals was greater than 1. In the tertiary hospital analyzed in more detail, the male-to-female ratio for admissions to hospital or to ICU, normalized to the population in the community or hospital, respectively, was greater than 1 for all age groups, and this ratio increased with age. After adjustment for covariates, males and females less than 80 years of age were roughly equally likely to be admitted to ICU from hospital, but in patients aged 80 or older, men were much more likely than women to be admitted (odds ratio, 2.14; 95% confidence interval, 1.56-2.94).
Conclusion:
More men than women are admitted to ICUs; this difference is especially prominent in elderly patients.
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