Predictors of early recovery of health status after intensive care.
OBJECTIVE
To identify factors predictive of good or poor recovery of health status and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) 90 days after admission to an intensive care unit (ICU).


METHODS
Prospective international multicentre study in 19 ICUs participating in the HRQOL substudy of the SAPS 3 project.


METHODS
The EuroQol questionnaire (EQ) was administered to discharged ICU patients 90 days after admission. A question to compare present health status with that 3 months before ICU admission (same/better/worse) was added.


METHODS
Six hundred and eighteen patients who spent >24h in an ICU and survived for 90 days. EQ data and health comparison were available in 559 (90.5%) of them.


RESULTS
Patients reported their general level of health to be better (33.8%), the same (31.1%), or worse (35.1%) in comparison with baseline. Recovery was considered to be good for answers "better" or "the same". Regression analysis showed that transplantation surgery [odds ratio (OR) 0.07, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.01-0.63], coronary artery bypass surgery without valvular repair (OR 0.39, 95% CI 0.17-0.92) and being admitted to the ICU from a ward or other location (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.31-0.95) predicted good recovery of health. Predictors of poor recovery (all present at the time of ICU admission) were unplanned ICU admission, hypothermia, serum creatinine level >or=2mg/dl, pH<or=7.25 and metastatic cancer.


CONCLUSIONS
More than 60% of ICU patients report good recovery of their health 90 days after ICU admission, depending on their illness and circumstances of ICU admission.
Capuzzo
Maurizia
M
Department of Surgical, Anaesthetic and Radiological Sciences, Service of Anaesthesiology & Intensive Care, University Hospital of Ferrara, Corso Giovecca 203, 44100, Ferrara, Italy. cpm@unife.it
Moreno
Rui P
RP
Jordan
Barbara
B
Bauer
Peter
P
Alvisi
Raffaele
R
Metnitz
Philipp G H
PG
D001118:Argentina; D016638:Critical Illness; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D020127:Recovery of Function