Characteristics and outcomes of patients admitted to regional and rural intensive care units in Australia

Objective: To describe the characteristics and outcomes of patients admitted to regional and rural intensive care units (ICUs). Design, setting and participants: Retrospective database review using the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Adult Patient Database for admissions between January 2009 and June 2019. Characteristics and outcomes of patients admitted to regional and rural ICUs were compared with metropolitan and tertiary ICUs. Main outcome measures: Primary outcome was hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes included patient characteristics, ICU mortality, ICU and hospital length of stay, need for mechanical ventilation and need for interhospital transfer. Results: Over the sampling period, admissions to regional/rural ICUs averaged nearly 19 000 episodes per annum and comprised 20% of critical care admissions in Australia. Unadjusted mortality was lower, a result that persisted after adjustment for a range of confounders (odds ratio, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.67–0.80; P < 0.01). Admissions are more likely to be emergencies, and patients are more likely to live in areas of relative disadvantage and to require interhospital transfer, but are less likely to require mechanical ventilation. Conclusions: Although illness severity is lower for patients admitted to regional/rural ICUs, hospital mortality after adjustment for a range of confounders is lower. Compared with tertiary ICUs, emergency admissions are more likely, which may have implications for surge capacity during pandemic illness, while mechanical ventilation is less frequently required. Regional/rural ICUs provide care to a substantial proportion of critically ill patients and have a crucial role in the support of regional Australians.