title: Admission source and mortality in a pediatric intensive care unit.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Studies carried out in different countries have shown that source of patient admission in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) is associated to death. Patients admitted from wards show a greater ICU mortality. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between admission source and outcome in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied all PICU admissions that took place between January 2002 and December 2005 in a tertiary hospital in Brazil. The major outcome studied was death while in the PICU. The independent variable analyzed was admission source, defined either as pediatric emergency room (PER), wards, operating room (OR) of the same hospital or other sources.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 1823 admissions were studied. The overall expected mortality based on the Pediatric Index of Mortality 2 was 6.5% and the observed mortality was 10.3%. In adjusted analysis, the mortality was doubled in patients admitted from wards when compared with the PER patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Observed mortality rates were higher in patients admitted from wards within the same hospital, even after adjustment.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Department of Pediatrics, Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Michel Georges Dos Santos
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: El Halal
authors.forename: Evandro
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Barbieri
authors.forename: Ricardo Mombelli
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Filho
authors.forename: Eliana de Andrade
authors.initials: Ede A
authors.lastname: Trotta
authors.forename: Paulo Roberto Antonacci
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Carvalho