Articles: intensive-care-units.
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Comparative Study
A comparison of APACHE II and a clinical sickness score. A study of 97 consecutive admissions to a district general hospital intensive care unit.
The aim of this study was to compare the predictive power of a simple illness severity score (Clinical Sickness Score) to that of APACHE II in a District General Hospital intensive therapy unit. A prospective comparison was carried out on 97 consecutive adult patients whose severity of illness was scored one hour after admission using both the Clinical Sickness Score and APACHE II. Intensive Therapy Unit and hospital outcomes were recorded for each patient. ⋯ Correlation for hospital nonsurvivors was not significant (r = 0.1629, r2 = 0.027, p = 0.3134). The positive predictive values of APACHE II were between 5% and 10% more sensitive than the Clinical Sickness Score for hospital outcome. Admission Clinical Sickness Score and APACHE II scores had similar predictive power in this study.
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A shortage of neonatal intensive care facilities has been encountered in some areas of the country including North Carolina. To examine possible solutions to this health care delivery problem, a cross-sectional survey of all the neonatal intensive care units in North Carolina was performed to examine characteristics of patients occupying the beds in these facilities. ⋯ It is concluded that an increase in both intermediate/convalescent care beds and establishment of chronic care facilities in North Carolina, rather than an increase in intensive care beds in these units, would alleviate the shortage of neonatal intensive care facilities. Further, the characteristics of the population occupying neonatal intensive care unit beds should be considered by health planners in addition to occupancy rate, when new facilities are being established.