Table 2.
ICU admission and patient characteristics distributed by NEWS findings
| Ward-ICU transfers | All N = 264 |
NEWS24 < 5 n = 100 |
NEWS24 ≥ 5 n = 164 |
Threshold crossers n = 82 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transfer condition, n (%) | ||||
| *Respiratory failure | 75 (28.4) | 11 (11.0) | 64 (39.0) | 25 (30.5) |
| *Sepsis | 41 (15.5) | 7 (7.0) | 34 (20.7) | 21 (25.6) |
| *Arrhythmia | 25 (9.5) | 13 (13.0) | 12 (7.3) | 6 (7.3) |
| Heart failure | 22 (8.3) | 8 (6.0) | 14 (8.5) | 7 (8.5) |
| *Internal bleeding | 19 (7.2) | 13 (13.0) | 6 (3.7) | 4 (4.9) |
| Change in conscious level | 18 (6.8) | 8 (8.0) | 10 (6.1) | 8 (9,8) |
| *Acute coronary syndrome | 15 (5.7) | 13 (13.0) | 2 (1.2) | 0 |
| *Kidney or electrolytes disease | 17 (6.4) | 13 (13.0) | 4 (2.4) | 1 (1.2) |
| Care | 6 (2.3) | 2 (2.0) | 4 (2.4) | 3 (3.7) |
| Acute abdomen | 8 (3.0) | 2 (2.0) | 2 (1.2) | 3 (3.7) |
| Cardiac arrest | 3 (1.1) | 1 (1.0) | 2 (1.2) | 2 (2.4) |
| Other | 15 (5.7) | 9 (9.0) | 6 (3.7) | 2 (2.4) |
| NEWS24, mean (median) | ||||
| IICU/ level 2 ICU | 5.7 (6) | 2.1 (2) | 8.1 (8) | 8.6 (8) |
| ICU/ level 3 ICU | 7.5 (8) | 2.3 (3) | 8.9 (9) | 8.6 (9) |
| *Transfer to, n (%) | ||||
| ICU, level 3 ICU | 37 (14.0) | 8 (8.0) | 29 (17.7) | 19 (23.2) |
| IICU, level 2 ICU | 227 (86.0) | 92 (92.0) | 135 (82.3) | 63 (76.8) |
| Unique patients | N = 221 | n = 79 | n = 142 | n = 72 |
| Patient characteristics, n (%) | ||||
| Male sex | 130 (58.8) | 52 (65.8) | 78 (54.9) | 45 (62.5) |
| *Age, mean (median) | 71.7 (75) | 67.0 (71) | 74.3 (76) | 75.5 (76) |
| *Age 80 or more | 74 (33.5) | 19 (24.1) | 55 (38.7) | 31 (43.1) |
| End stage condition | 32 (14.5) | 9 (11.4) | 23 (16.2) | 8 (11.1) |
| CCI, mean (median) | 3.0 (2) | 2.7 (2) | 3.2 (2) | 3 (2) |
| CFS, mean (median) | 4.8 (5) | 4.5 (4) | 4.9 (5) | 5.0 (5) |
| *Age ≥ 80, CFS ≥ 6 or CCI ≥ 3 | 148 (67.0) | 46 (58.3) | 102 (71.8) | 51 (70.8) |
| Mortality, n (%) | ||||
| *ICU mortality | 23 (10.4) | 3 (3.8) | 20 (14.1) | 9 (12.5) |
| Hospital mortality | 49 (22.2) | 13 (16.5) | 36 (25.4) | 16 (22.2) |
| 30-day mortality | 56 (25.3) | 15 (19.0) | 41 (28.9) | 21 (29.2) |
| One-year mortality | 93 (42.1) | 28 (35.4) | 65 (45.8) | 33 (45.8) |
Other: Liver failure, tamponade, cytokine release syndrome, hypertension, hypotension excl. suspicion of sepsis
* Significant differences with p-values, t-test two samples with unequal variances, Welch approximation, over NEWS24 ≥ 5: Respiratory failure: 0.000. Sepsis: 0.001. ACS or arrhythmia: 0.001. Kidney failure or electrolyte disturbance: 0.004. Bleeding: 0. 012. Admission to ICU: 0. 017. Age, mean: 0.002 Age ≥ 80 years: 0.022. Age ≥ 80, CFS ≥ 6 or CCI ≥ 3:0.046. ICU mortality: 0.005