Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Search research articles

Related Experiment Videos

Are elderly people less responsive to intensive care?

A W Wu¹, H R Rubin, M J Rosen

¹Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

|June 1, 1990

Summary

Advanced age did not independently increase mortality risk in intensive care units when severity of illness was considered. After adjusting for health factors, older patients showed no significantly higher death rates, challenging exclusion criteria.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

[Interpretation of expert consensus on primary tumor management for metastatic colorectal cancer (2026 edition)].

Zhonghua wei chang wai ke za zhi = Chinese journal of gastrointestinal surgery·2026

Same author

[Three-year survival outcomes of neoadjuvant immunotherapy for local advanced rectal cancer with pMMR: a single-center report of 140 patients from Peking University Cancer Hospital].

Zhonghua wai ke za zhi [Chinese journal of surgery]·2026

Same author

Operational strategies among infectious disease clinical trial sites during pandemics: a scoping review.

Trials·2026

Same author

[Emphasizing whole-course management of colorectal cancer: from diagnosis and treatment to patient health].

Zhonghua wei chang wai ke za zhi = Chinese journal of gastrointestinal surgery·2026

Same author

[Overemphasized surgical issues:the history, misconceptions, controversies, and future directions of lymph node detection thresholds and dissection range in colon cancer].

Zhonghua wei chang wai ke za zhi = Chinese journal of gastrointestinal surgery·2025

Same author

[Analysis of the incidence and risk factors of low anterior resection syndrome after radical sphincter-preserving surgery for locally advanced rectal cancer treated with neoadjuvant immunotherapy: a single-center retrospective study].

Zhonghua wei chang wai ke za zhi = Chinese journal of gastrointestinal surgery·2025

Area of Science:

Geriatric Medicine
Critical Care Medicine
Health Services Research

Background:

Older patients are sometimes excluded from intensive care units (ICUs) due to assumptions of poorer outcomes.
This perception may lead to under-treatment and missed opportunities for beneficial interventions in elderly individuals.
There is a need to differentiate the impact of age from the severity of illness on ICU mortality.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether advanced age is an independent predictor of increased mortality in a medical intensive care unit.
To compare mortality rates between older (≥75 years) and middle-aged (55–65 years) patients.
To control for illness severity using the Acute Physiology Assessment and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) score, modified to exclude age points (APACHE IIM).

Main Methods:

Related Experiment Videos

Retrospective chart review of 130 patients aged 75+ and 135 patients aged 55–65 admitted to a medical ICU over 30 months.
Severity of illness assessed using APACHE IIM.
Logistic regression analysis was employed to adjust for APACHE IIM, physician status, diagnosis, and cancer presence.

Main Results:

Older patients had a slightly longer hospital stay (39 vs. 37 days, P < .02).
Crude hospital mortality was higher in older patients (51% vs. 39%, P < .05; relative risk 1.32).
After adjusting for APACHE IIM and other clinical factors, older age was not a significant predictor of mortality (adjusted relative risk 1.05).
Pulmonary artery catheterization independently predicted mortality (adjusted relative risk 1.47).

Conclusions:

Advanced age alone, when adjusted for illness severity and other clinical factors, is not associated with significantly increased mortality in the medical ICU.
The findings challenge the practice of excluding older patients from ICUs based solely on age.
Pulmonary artery catheterization emerged as an independent predictor of mortality, suggesting its utility in risk stratification.