title: Influence of age in the duration of the stay and mortality of patients who remain in an Intensive Care Unit for a prolonged time.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The true role of the age in the prognosis of patients admitted in the ICU is not known. This work analyzes the influence of age on the duration of the stay and mortality of patients who remain in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for a long period of time.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective, observational study was performed with patients hospitalized ≥14 days in the ICU. Three age groups were established: <50, 50-70 and >70 years. The influence of different factors on the relationship existing between stay and age was studied. In addition, stay and survival in the ICU, hospital and at one year were analyzed based on the groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 707 patients were included. Significant differences in hospital stay (P=.183) were not found among the three groups. The older group, which showed greater severity on admission, was the group undergoing the most tracheostomies (74.7%) and extrarenal purification (HDF) (10.8%). When the influence of factors such as APACHE II, pre-ICU stay, origin, tracheostomy or hemodiafiltration (HDF) were analyzed, no relation was found between stay and age of patient. Survival decreased as age increased.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  No differences were found in stay based on age, although a difference was found in mortality.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos, Hospital Universitario Insular de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, España. Electronic address: lsancabx@gobiernodecanarias.org.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Santana-Cabrera
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos, Hospital Universitario Insular de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, España.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lorenzo-Torrent
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos, Hospital Universitario Insular de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, España.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Palacios
authors.affiliation: Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, España.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Martín Santana
authors.affiliation: Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, España.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Hernández Hernández
mesh_terms: D018806:APACHE; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003422:Critical Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
keywords: Estancia; Hospital mortality; Intensive care unit; Mortalidad hospitalaria; Stay; Unidad de cuidados intensivos