[Admission of elderly in intensive care: does age affect access to care?].
OBJECTIVE
The life expectancy of the population increasing, contrary to the resources of beds in reanimation, the question of the admission of the old subject in reanimation is increasingly frequent. We will be interested in the role of the age in the medical decision-making.


METHODS
A questionnaire was sent to the intensivists of the same department, then the troop of the subjects refused within an intensive care of the University Hospital of this same department was studied.


RESULTS
The age arrives in third place among the factors of refusal of admission quoted. It does not seem to be an appalling criterion for access to intensive care, but rather to lead to a thorough evaluation of the patient. This idea is translated in the open questions as in the clinical settings in situation. The age modulates the recourse to the entry in intensive care. It tends to be integrated in a total process of evaluation of a patient, even if the consensus is not total... The analysis of the troop of the refused subjects showed a first reason for refusal which is the lack of place. The age is not quoted.


CONCLUSIONS
The age does not seem a determining element. It cannot solve the question which is to know if the admission in reanimation is relevant or not for the patient proposed. More than the admission or not of a possibly old subject in reanimation, the problem lies in the resolution with accuracy of the acute dilemma which is the decision-making to admit or refuse a patient whatever it is for the benefit of the person.
Borel
M
M
Département d'anesthésie-réanimation-Samu, hôpital universitaire de Rouen, 1, rue Germont, 76000 Rouen, France. marie.borel@chu-rouen.fr
Veber
B
B
Robillard
F
F
Rigaud
J-P
JP
Dureuil
B
B
Hervé
C
C
D018806:APACHE; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003422:Critical Care; D005260:Female; D006299:Health Services for the Aged; D006323:Heart Arrest; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D007431:Intraoperative Complications; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires