Mortality and physical status at hospital discharge in Japanese elderly critically ill patients: a single-center retrospective study

BACKGROUND: Because there is ongoing population aging, the age of patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) is also higher. However, the evidence about outcomes in elderly patients is insufficient in Japan. Therefore, we conducted a retrospective study. METHOD: The study participants were consecutive patients who were admitted to our ICU and received mechanical ventilation for more than 24 h. We divided the patients into two groups, according to age. Patients in group A were 74 years old or younger, and those in group B were 75 years old or older. The major outcome was in-hospital mortality. FINDINGS: Two hundred and twenty patients met the inclusion criteria. There were 118 patients in group A and 102 patients in group B. The overall hospital mortality in both groups were similar (19 vs. 25%, p = 0.23). The proportion of patients who were discharged home and had good physical status at hospital discharge in group A were significantly higher than that in group B (72 vs. 37%, p < 0.0001; 91 vs. 74%, p = 0.004, respectively). CONCLUSION: The elderly population were associated with a twofold increase in the risk of discharged not to the home compared with others.