CLINICAL-FEATURES OF INTENSIVE-CARE UNIT ADMISSIONS, ACCORDING TO AGE

Background: Lately we have observed an increase in the admission to in tensive care units of patients over 65 years old, probably due to the increase in life expectancy that is occurring in Chile. Aim: To compar e the frequency of admissions to intensive care units in patients over 65 years old, their diagnoses their severity and hospital course, wit h those of younger patients. Patients and methods: The charts of all p atients admitted to an intensive care unit of a University Hospital du ring one year, were reviewed The diagnosis that caused the admission w as considered the main disease. Severity at the moment of admission wa s assessed using the Apache score. Results: A total of 777 patients we re admitted during the study period. Twenty had to be excluded due to lack of reliable data. Four hundred thirty two (57%) were over 65 year s old. Cardiovascular diseases were the main cause of admission in you ng and old patients. Mortality wets 14.8% of patients over 65 years ol d and 18.7% in younger patients. Main causes of death were cardiac arr est, cardiogenic shock, sepsis and cerebrovascular disease. No differe nces in causes of death were observed between young and old patients. Conclusions: Patients older than 65 years old admitted to intensive ca re units are very similar to their younger counterparts in their progn osis and causes of admission.