Proxy-perceived prior health status and hospital outcome among the critically ill: is there any relationship?
OBJECTIVE
To measure the health status of critically ill patients prior to hospital admission and to study the relationship between prior health status (PHS) and hospital mortality.


METHODS
523 patients admitted to the intensive care department from October 1994 to June 1995 were included consecutively in the study. Health status 3 months prior to admission was assessed retrospectively by proxies using the EuroQol 5D (EQ-5D) and the Karnofsky Performance Status Scale (KF). Patients were classified into four admission categories: trauma injury, scheduled surgery, unscheduled surgery and other medical conditions.


METHODS
Department of Intensive Medicine, University Hospital of Bellvitge, Barcelona, Spain.


METHODS
84 trauma injury patients, 239 scheduled surgery patients, 57 unscheduled surgery patients and 143 patients with other medical conditions.


METHODS
The descriptive system and visual analogue scale (VAS) of the EQ-5D and the K.F.


RESULTS
Using proxy responses we found that trauma injury patients had the best PHS and scheduled surgery patients the worst. There were statistically significant differences in mean VAS scores and all EQ-5D dimensions, except self-care, when trauma injury patients or scheduled surgery patients were compared with the other admission categories. No significant differences were found on these variables between unscheduled surgery patients and medical patients. We found no statistically significant differences in PHS health status between patients who died and those who survived, either within each admission category or in the sample as a whole.


CONCLUSIONS
The PHS of critically ill patients varied according to admission category. Given the instruments used and population studied, there was no association between PHS and hospital outcome.
Servei de Medicina Intensiva, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
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Diaz-Prieto
M T
MT
Gorriz
X
X
Badia
H
H
Torrado
E
E
Farrero
J
J
Amador
R
R
Abos
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003422:Critical Care; D016638:Critical Illness / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010343:Patient Admission; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D016019:Survival Analysis