Affiliation:
1. Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore
Abstract
Intensive care unit (ICU) resources are scarce and expensive, and deciding if intensive care is suitable for older patients involves complex clinical reasoning, ethical challenges and cost considerations. Although some studies show that ICU mortality increases with age, others suggest that age alone is not predictive of poor prognosis, and other factors such as frailty, premorbid functional status and comorbidities could be important.
Publisher
Academy of Medicine, Singapore
Reference10 articles.
1. Vallet H, Schwarz GL, Flaatten H, et al. Mortality of older patients admitted to an ICU: A systematic review. Crit Care Med 2021;49:324-34.
2. Guidet B, Vallet H, Boddaert J, et al. Caring for the critically ill patients over 80: a narrative review. Ann Intensive Care 2018;8:114.
3. Guidet B, de Lange DW, Boumendil A, et al. The contribution of frailty, cognition, activity of daily life and comorbidities on outcome in acutely admitted patients over 80 years in European ICUs: the VIP2 study. Intensive Care Med 2020;46:57-69.
4. de Rooij SE, Abu-Hanna A, Levi M, et al. Factors that predict outcome of intensive care treatment in very elderly patients: a review. Crit Care 2005;9:R307-14.
5. Tang EY, Hsu LF, Lam KN, et al. Critically ill elderly who require mechanical ventilation: the effects of age on survival outcomes and resource utilisation in the medical intensive care unit of a general hospital. Ann Acad Med Singap 2003;32:691-6.