Table 1 Characteristics of patients discharged from the intensive care unit (ICU) after exclusion of end-of-life patients, over a 3-year period.
Characteristic | In-hours discharge | Out-of-hours discharge | P value | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
N | 3943 | 735 | n/a | 4678 |
Overall % of sample | 84.29 | 15.71 | 100 | |
Sex | ||||
Male | 2260 (83.8%) | 436 (16.2%) | 0.31 | 2696 |
Female | 1683 (84.9%) | 299 (15.1%) | 1982 | |
Mean age [95% CI], SD (years) | 59.16 [58.62–59.70], 17.44 | 62.00 [60.78–63.22], 16.87 | < 0.001 | 59.61 [59.11–60.10], 17.38 |
Mean APACHE II score [95% CI], SD | 14.40 [14.22–14.58], 5.79 | 15.74 [15.31–16.17], 5.88 | < 0.001 | 14.61 [14.44–14.78], 5.82 |
Median length of stay in ICU, IQR (days)* | 3.00 (1.67–6.04) | 3.25 (1.89–6.09) | 0.01 | 3.04 (1.69–6.05) |
Median length of stay post ICU, IQR (days) | 6 (2–13) | 7 (3–15) | < 0.001 | 6 (2–13) |
Median delay to discharge, IQR (min) | 489 (205–1835) | 736 (250–2168) | < 0.001 | 529 (210–1861) |
Median length of level 2 support, IQR (days) | 2 (2–4) | 2 (2–4) | 0.87 | 2 (2–4) |
Median length of level 3 support, IQR (days) | 0 (0–2) | 0 (0–2) | 0.51 | 0 (0–2) |
Level 3 support required | 1367 (34.67%) | 266 (36.19%) | 0.43 | 1633 (34.91%) |
Median length of ventilatory support (days) | 0 (0–2) | 0 (0–2) | 0.92 | 0 (0–2) |
Ventilatory support required | 1220 (30.94%) | 230 (31.29%) | 0.85 | 1470 (31.42%) |
Nature of admission (% medical) | 47.05 | 51.02 | 47.67 | |
Medical | 1855 | 375 | 0.05 | 2230 |
Surgical | 2088 | 360 | 2448 | |
Of which elective | 1029 | 141 | 1170 | |
Of which non-elective | 1059 | 219 | 1278 | |
ICU readmission rate (%) | 4.24 | 4.08 | 4.21 | |
Readmitted | 167 | 30 | 0.85 | 197 |
Not readmitted | 3776 | 705 | 4481 | |
Post-ICU mortality rate (%) | 3.73 | 4.63 | 3.87 | |
Died | 147 | 34 | 0.25 | 181 |
Survived | 3796 | 701 | 4497 | |
