Background: Treatment of elderly patients on intensive care units is an increasing challenge all over the world. Objectives: To evaluate short- term survival and long-term quality of life im-plications of intensive ca...Background: Treatment of elderly patients on intensive care units is an increasing challenge all over the world. Objectives: To evaluate short- term survival and long-term quality of life im-plications of intensive care for the elderly. Methods: Retrospective analysis of 314 patients 75 years of age or more requiring over 48 hours of intensive care. Results: In multivariate analy-sis, significant risk factors for mortality were chronic renal impairment (OR for survival .30, p 24 h (OR 4.5), hemodialysis (OR 6.8), and vasopressor therapy (OR 2.5, p < 0.001 for each). A health survey questionnaire in an up to 60-month follow-up of 28 patients revealed considerably lower physi-cal subscores of our patients compared to the general elderly population. Conclusions: Elderly patients benefit from intensive care in terms of survival. Complications are frequent, as are severe consequences for long-term quality of life. Short-term mortality in elderly intensive care patients correlates most closely to pre- existing disease, not age.展开更多
文摘Background: Treatment of elderly patients on intensive care units is an increasing challenge all over the world. Objectives: To evaluate short- term survival and long-term quality of life im-plications of intensive care for the elderly. Methods: Retrospective analysis of 314 patients 75 years of age or more requiring over 48 hours of intensive care. Results: In multivariate analy-sis, significant risk factors for mortality were chronic renal impairment (OR for survival .30, p 24 h (OR 4.5), hemodialysis (OR 6.8), and vasopressor therapy (OR 2.5, p < 0.001 for each). A health survey questionnaire in an up to 60-month follow-up of 28 patients revealed considerably lower physi-cal subscores of our patients compared to the general elderly population. Conclusions: Elderly patients benefit from intensive care in terms of survival. Complications are frequent, as are severe consequences for long-term quality of life. Short-term mortality in elderly intensive care patients correlates most closely to pre- existing disease, not age.
