• Kwok M Ho, Geoffrey J Dobb, Kok Y Lee, Judith Finn, Matthew Knuiman, and Steven A R Webb.
• Department of Intensive Care, Royal Perth Hospital, Australia. kwok.ho@health.wa.gov.au
• J Crit Care. 2009 Mar 1;24(1):101-7.

PurposeThe aim of this study is to assess the effect of comorbidities on risk of readmission to an intensive care unit (ICU) and the excess hospital mortality associated with ICU readmissions.Materials And MethodsA cohort study used clinical data from a 22-bed multidisciplinary ICU in a university hospital and comorbidity data from the Western Australian hospital morbidity database.ResultsFrom 16,926 consecutive ICU admissions between 1987 and 2002, and 654 (3.9%) of these patients were readmitted to ICU readmissions within the same hospitalization. Patients with readmission were older, more likely to be originally admitted from the operating theatre or hospital ward, had a higher Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE)-predicted mortality, and had more comorbidities when compared with patients without readmission. The number of Charlson comorbidities was significantly associated with late readmission (>72 hours) but not early readmission (ConclusionsComorbidity was a risk factor for late ICU readmission. Comorbidities could not account for the excess mortality associated with ICU readmissions.

28 keywords...

hide…