Growth of pediatric intensive care units in the United States from 1995 to 2001.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the growth and distribution of pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) beds in the United States from 1995 to 2001 and the characteristics of PICUs in 2001.


METHODS
This was a cross-sectional survey of PICUs in 1995 to 1996 and 2001 to 2002.


RESULTS
There were 306 general PICUs in the United States in 1995 and 349 in 2001 (13.7% growth). In both survey periods, approximately half of the PICUs had <or=8 beds. The largest growth (34.4%) was in PICUs with >or=15 beds. There were 3899 PICU beds in 2001 (23.9% increase from 1995), with a mean number of PICU beds per pediatric population (age <18 years) of 1/18542 in the United States (17.5% increase from 1995). There was an increase in the number of annual admissions, occupancy rate, length of stay, percentage intubated, mortality rate, and number of intensivists per PICU with increasing bed size. In 2001, 94% of PICUs had a pediatric intensivist on staff, and these specialists were in-house at night in 17% of all PICUs and in 30% of PICUs with >or=15 beds.


CONCLUSIONS
The number of PICU beds is growing more rapidly than the rate of pediatric population growth. The impetus for this growth is unclear.
Randolph
Adrienne G
AG
Department of Anesthesia, Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. adrienne.randolph@tch.harvard.edu
Gonzales
Calle A
CA
Cortellini
Lynelle
L
Yeh
Timothy S
TS
D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006742:Hospital Bed Capacity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D015278:Intensive Care Units, Pediatric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000600:supply & distribution* / Q000639:trends*; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D011647:Puerto Rico; D014481:United States; D000078329:Workforce