title: [Age as predictive factor of mortality in an intensive and intermediate care unit].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Age by itself is not a criterion of biological prognosis. Scores for physiological variables on admission and multiorgan failure are better predictors of mortality.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a retrospective/ prospective observational study from September, 2005 to May, 2007. The following variables were analyzed: age, sex, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Classification System (APACHE) II, modified APACHE II score (without the variable of age), Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, length of hospital stay, type of disease and mortality, limitation of therapeutic effort (LTE), Katz index on admission, intensive and intermediate care unit (IICU) mortality and in-hospital mortality. Student's t-test was used to analyze continuous variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 572 patients admitted to the IICU, we excluded 75 due to transfer to other hospitals, 142 due to direct admission to intermediate care, and 89 due to acute coronary syndrome. Of the 266 remaining patients with medical disease, mortality was higher when the APACHE II score was > 20 (OR = 9.4) and/or the SOFA score was >4 (OR = 15.41) but not when age was 3 76 years (OR = 2.04). Multivariate analysis of these parameters revealed higher mortality in the IICU (P=.01) in patients with a SOFA score > 4 and modified APACHE II score >16, independently of age or the Katz index. In addition to the SOFA and the APACHE II scores, in-hospital mortality was significantly influenced by the Katz index (P=.05). LTE was significantly greater in patients with a Katz index E-G.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Higher SOFA and APACHE II scores predicted higher IICU mortality, regardless of age. LTE was more frequent in patients with a greater degree of dependence.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Cuidados Críticos e Intermedios del Hospital de Hellín, Albacete, España. rfdzdelcampo@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fernández Del Campo
authors.forename: Amaya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lozares Sánchez
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moreno Salcedo
authors.forename: José Ignacio
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Lozano Martínez
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Amigo Bonjoch
authors.forename: Pedro Antonio
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Jiménez Hernández
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sánchez Espinosa
authors.forename: José Angel
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Sarrías Lorenzo
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Roldán Ortega
mesh_terms: D018806:APACHE; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003422:Critical Care; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies