Busier intensive care units are associated with increased ICU readmissions, but not increased mortality rates, according to a study in Annals of Internal Medicine.
Researchers studied 200,730 adults discharged from 155 U.S. ICUs to hospital floors from 2001 to 2008. Increases in measures of ICU capacity strain — ICU census, new admissions and average acuity — were associated with shorter ICU length of stay and a higher likelihood of being readmitted to the ICU within 72 hours.
An increase from the fifth to 95th percentile of ICU capacity strain was associated with a 6.3 hour decrease in ICU length of stay and a 1 percent increase in the ICU readmission risk, according to the study.
However, there was no association between any ICU capacity strain measure and the in-hospital mortality rate, likelihood of discharge from hospital to home or total hospital length of stay. The authors suggested that strained ICUs may lead providers to discharge ICU patients more efficiently, and ICU readmissions likely do not worsen short-term patient outcomes.
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