Table 1.
Patient and hospital characteristics
| Pre-IMC period | IMC period | P value | |
| n = 329 | n = 475 | ||
| Number of ICU beds | 17 | 16 | |
| Number of IMC beds | - | 6 | |
| Gender, percentage of males | 61.2% | 59.6% | 0.67a |
| Age, mean ± SD, years | 57 ± 18.3 | 56 ± 18.0 | 0.20b |
| Age, 25%/median/75%, years | 43/60/72 | 44/59/70 | |
| Surgical patients, number (percentage) | 175 (53.2%) | 277 (60.6%) | 0.04a |
| Diagnostic category, number (percentage) | <0.01a | ||
| Neurosurgical | 41 (12.5%) | 141 (30.9%) | |
| Respiratory | 88 (26.7%) | 87 (19%) | |
| Gastrointestinal | 18 (5.5%) | 14 (3.1%) | |
| Cardiovascular | 105 (31.9%) | 134 (29.3%) | |
| Multitrauma | 36 (10.9%) | 41 (9%) | |
| Sepsis | 16 (4.9%) | 20 (4.4%) | |
| Metabolic/Renal | 17 (5.2%) | 16 (3.6%) | |
| Haematological | 2 (0.6%) | 4 (0.9%) | |
| Length of stay in the ICU, mean ± SD, days | 5.8 ± 9.2 | 7.0 ± 2.4 | 0.25b |
| Length of stay in the ICU, 25%/median/75%, days | 1/3/6 | 1/2/8.5 | |
| APACHE II score, mean ± SD (number) | 19.5 ± 8.2 (230) | 19.9 ± 7.6 (279) | 0.44b |
| APACHE II score, 25%/median/75% | 13/19/24 | 14/19/25 | |
| TISS-28 score on 1st day, mean ± SD | 28.9 ± 10.8 | 30.2 ± 11.0 | 0.16b |
| TISS-28 score on 1st day, 25%/median/75% | 21/28/36 | 22/29/37 | |
| TISS-28 ICU stay, mean ± SD | 26.9 ± 9.3 | 28.6 ± 9.6 | 0.02b |
| TISS-28 ICU stay, 25%/median/75% | 20/26/33 | 22/28/35 | |
| Mortality in the ICU, number (percentage) | 64 (19.5%) | 115 (25.2%) | 0.06a |
| Mortality after ICU, number (percentage) | 13 (4.0%) | 14 (3.1%) | 0.77a |
aChi-square tests. bMann-Whitney tests. APACHE II, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II; ICU, intensive care unit; IMC, intermediate care unit; SD, standard deviation; TISS-28, Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System with a median value of 28.