title: The Association of Age With Short-Term and Long-Term Mortality in Adults Admitted to the Intensive Care Unit.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Based on the current literature, it is unclear whether advanced age itself leads to higher mortality in critically ill patients or whether it is due to the greater number of comorbidities in the elderly patients. We hypothesized that increasing age would increase the odds of short-term and long-term mortality after adjusting for baseline comorbidities in intensive care unit (ICU) patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a retrospective cohort study of 57 160 adults admitted to any ICU over 5 years at 2 academic tertiary care centers. Patients were divided into age-groups, 18 to 39, 40 to 59, 60 to 79, and ≥80. The primary outcomes were 30-day and 365-day mortality. Results were analyzed with multivariate logistic regression adjusting for demographics and the Elixhauser-van Walraven Comorbidity Index.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The adjusted 30-day mortality odds ratios (ORs) were 1.39 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.21-1.60), 2.00 (95% CI: 1.75-2.28), and 3.33 (95% CI: 2.90-3.82) for age-groups 40 to 59, 60 to 79, and ≥80, respectively, using the age-group 18 to 39 as the reference. The adjusted 365-day mortality ORs were 1.46 (95% CI: 1.32-1.61), 2.10 (95% CI: 1.91-2.31), and 2.96 (95% CI: 2.67-3.27).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In critically ill patients, increasing age is associated with higher odds of short-term and long-term death after correcting for existing comorbidities.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Emergency Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.|2 Surgical Intensive Care Unit, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Raghu R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Seethala
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Blackney
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Emergency Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.|2 Surgical Intensive Care Unit, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: 4 The Division of Trauma, Emergency Surgery and Surgical Critical Care, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Haytham M A
authors.initials: HMA
authors.lastname: Kaafarani
authors.affiliation: 4 The Division of Trauma, Emergency Surgery and Surgical Critical Care, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel Dante
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Emergency Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.|5 Medical Intensive Care Unit, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Imoigele
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Aisiku
authors.affiliation: 6 Department of Emergency Medicine, UC San Diego Health System, UC San Diego School of Medicine, San Diego, CA, USA.|7 Division of Critical Care, Department of Anesthesiology, UC San Diego Health System, UC San Diego School of Medicine, San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tainter
authors.affiliation: 4 The Division of Trauma, Emergency Surgery and Surgical Critical Care, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: deMoya
authors.affiliation: 4 The Division of Trauma, Emergency Surgery and Surgical Critical Care, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: King
authors.affiliation: 4 The Division of Trauma, Emergency Surgery and Surgical Critical Care, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.|8 Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Jarone
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002423:Cause of Death; D015897:Comorbidity; D016638:Critical Illness / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: age; comorbidity index; elderly; intensive care unit; mortality