Causes and Outcomes of Intensive Care Admission Refusals: A Retrospective Audit from a Rural Teaching Hospital in Eastern Cape, South Africa

(1) Background: Patients who deserve intensive care unit (ICU) admission may be denied due to a lack of resources, complicating ICU triage decisions for intensive care unit (ICU) clinicians. Among the resources that may be unavailable are trained personnel and monitored beds. In South Africa, the distribution of healthcare resources is reflected in the availability of ICU beds, with more ICU beds available in more affluent areas. Data on ICU refusal rates, reasons for refusal, patient characteristics, and outcomes are scarce in resource-constrained rural settings. Hence, this study sheds light on the ICU refusal rates, reasons for refusal, characteristics, and outcomes of refused patients at NMAH. (2) Methods: This was a three-month retrospective cross-sectional record review of refused and admitted patients from January to March 2022. COVID-19 patients and those younger than 13 years old were excluded. Refusal rates, reasons for refusal, characteristics, and outcomes of refused patients were analysed quantitatively using SPSS VS 20 software. Reasons for refusal were categorised as “too well”, “too sick”, and “suitable for admission but no resources”. (3) Results: A total of 135 patients were discussed for ICU admission at NMAH during the study period; 73 (54.07%) were refused admission, and 62 (45.92%) were admitted. Being considered too sick to benefit from ICU was the most common reason for refusal (53.23%). Too well and no resources contributed 27.42% and 19.35%, respectively. Patients with poor functional status, comorbidities, medical diagnoses, and those referred from the ward or accident and emergency unit rather than the operating room were more likely to be refused ICU admission. Refused patients had a seven-day mortality rate of 47%. (4) Conclusions and recommendations: The study found an unmet need for critical care services at our institution, as well as a need for tools to help clinicians make objective triage decisions for critically ill patients. Therefore, the study suggests a need to improve the quality of services provided outside of the ICU, particularly for patients who were refused ICU admission, to improve their outcomes.