Characteristics of critically ill patients in ICUs in mainland China

We sought to describe the demographics, case mix, interventions, and clinical outcome of critically ill patients admitted to ICUs in Mainland China.

A 2-month (July 1, 2009, to August 31, 2009) prospective, observational cohort study.

Twenty-two ICUs in Mainland China.

Adult patients admitted to participating ICUs during the study period with an ICU length of stay >24 hrs.

None.

Patient characteristics, including demographics, underlying diseases, severity of illness, admission status, complications, intervention and treatment during ICU stay, and clinical outcome were recorded in case report form. The primary outcome measure was all-cause hospital mortality. Independent predictors for hospital mortality were determined with multivariate logistic regression analysis. One thousand two hundred ninety-seven patients met the inclusion criteria for the study, 821 (63.3%) were male, and mean age was 58.5 ± 19.2 yrs. Mean Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score was 18.0 ± 8.1, and mean Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score was 6.5 ± 3.8. One third of the patients were postoperative ICU admissions. Seven hundred sixty-five patients (59.0%) developed infections, followed by severe sepsis or septic shock (484, 37.3%), acute kidney injury (398, 30.7%), and acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome (351, 27.1%). Mechanical ventilation was used in almost three fourths of the patients, whereas any type of renal replacement therapy was used in 173 patients (13.3%). Hospital mortality was 20.3%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis found that Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score, solid tumor, severe sepsis/septic shock, acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome, and acute kidney injury were independent risk factors for hospital mortality.

Critically ill patients in ICUs in Mainland China exhibited a case mix similar to those of Western countries, although there are significant differences in intensive care unit admission rates and disease severity between Western and Chinese ICUs.