title: Should age limit admission to the intensive care unit?
abstract: People who are older than 65 years of age are the fastest growing segment of the United States population. With the projected exponential increase in the number of elderly patients and the increasing burden of chronic disease, the number of elderly patients who will require treatment in an intensive care unit is expected to increase. Owing to the elderly patient's reduced life expectancy and higher intensive care unit and hospital mortality, it could be argued that elderly patients should not be admitted to the intensive care unit. However, an analysis of available data suggests that functional elderly patients have a favorable "long-term" outcome after intensive care unit admission. This suggests that age alone should not be used in making intensive care unit triage decisions.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, 834 Walnut Street, Suite 650, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA. paul.marik@jefferson.edu
authors.forename: Paul E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Marik
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016638:Critical Illness / Q000145:classification* / Q000628:therapy; D003659:Decision Making, Organizational; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups / Q000145:classification; D005260:Female; D015276:Health Care Rationing / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends*; D008297:Male; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000639:trends*; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States