Epidemiology and Predictors of Long-Stays in Medical ICU: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Prolonged stays in ICU have been associated with overconsumption of resources but little is known about their epidemiology. We aimed to identify predictors and prognostic factors of extended stays, studying a long-stay population.

We present a retrospective cohort study between July 2000 and December 2013 comparing patients hospitalized in a medical ICU for ≥30 days (long-stay patients-LSP) with patients hospitalized for <30 days (short-stay patients-SSP). Admission characteristics were collected from the local database for every patient and evolution during the ICU stay was retrieved from LSP files.

Among 8906 patients hospitalized in the ICU, 417 (4.7%) were LSP. At admission, male sex (adjusted odds-ratio (aOR) 1.4 [1.1; 1.7]), inpatient (aOR 2.0 [1.6; 2.4]) and in-ICU hospitalizations for respiratory (aOR 2.9 [1.6; 3.5]) or infectious diseases (aOR 1.6 [1.1; 2.5]) were all independently associated with a long stay in the ICU, while hospitalizations for metabolic (aOR 0.2 [0.1; 0.5]) or cardiovascular diseases (aOR 0.3 [0.2; 0.5]) were in favor of a short stay. In-ICU and in-hospital LSP mortality were 38.8% and 48.2%. Age (aOR 1.02 [1.00-1.04]), catecholamines (aOR 3.9 [1.9; 8.5]), renal replacement therapy (aOR 2.4 [1.3; 4.3]), primary disease-related complications (aOR 2.5 [1.4; 4.6]) and nosocomial infections (aOR 4.1 [1.8; 10.1]) were independently associated with mortality in LSP.

LSP were highly comorbid patients mainly hospitalized for respiratory diseases. Their mortality was mostly related to nosocomial infections but the majority were discharged alive from the hospital.