Table 2.

Patient Characteristics on the Medical-Surgical Wards When a Physiologic Threshold Criterion Was First Met

	Slow Transfer (N = 56)	Rapid Transfer (N = 35)	P Value
Demographics
Mean age, ±SE	63 ± 4	61 ± 6	.41
Age >65 y, %	54	49	.65
Female, %	56	60	.66
>72 H in hospital pre-ICU transfer, %	30	17	.21
Function and disease class
Functionally dependent prehospital, %	30	23	.44
Pre-ICU diagnosis, %			.64
Respiratory failure	48	53
Sepsis	36	26
Gastrointestinal bleeding	16	21
Severity of illness on ward
Mean pre-ICU APACHE II score ±SE*	16 ± 2	19 ± 2	.09
Pre-ICU APACHE II ≥20, %*	37	32	.8
Second physiologic criterion met ≤2 h after first criterion, %	21	29	.5

^*Obtained from data at time physiologic criteria first met on the ward.

ICU, intensive care unit.